Textbook: "Astronomy Today" (Sixth Edition), by Eric Chaisson and Steve McMillan

Student Companion Workbooks:

     "Online Journey Through Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies"
         by Michael Guidry, Margaret Riedinger and Ted Barnes. Workbook written by Kevin Lee [ON ELECTRONIC COURSE RESERVES via UTK Library]

Lab Book: "A Laboratory Textbook for Introductory Astronomy" by Kermit E. Duckett

Material to be covered:

Chapter 1 Charting the Heavens -The Foundations of Astronomy: orders of magnitudes; powers of ten, exponential and scientific notation; scientific units, fundamental constants, speed of light, distance units, smallest and largest components of universe, periodic table of the elements; angular measure; parallax; triangulation; Constellations, celestial coordinates, seasons, solstices, equinoxes, time keeping and calendars; phases of the Moon, tides, eclipses;

Chapter 3 Radiation - Information from the Cosmos: wave motions; EM radiation;  blackbody radiation; radiation laws; temperature scales; the Doppler effect;

Chapter 4 Spectroscopy: Spectral lines; modern physics, interaction of radiation & matter; Kirchhoff's laws; emission, absorption and continuous spectra; atomic structure; Hydrogen spectra; Balmer series, Bohr model of H-atom; molecules; analysis of spectra to derive information;

Chapter 5 Telescopes - The Tools of Astronomy: Optical observatories, relecting and refracting telescopes; types of telescope designs; types of light detectors (film, photoelectric, CCDs); light-gathering power; resolving power; light pollution; "seeing";  image processing; adaptive optics; New Technology Telescopes, Radio astronomy; interferometry; spaceborne observatories (Hubble, NGST),  long and short wavelength space observatories (SIRTF, Chandra, Compton, ROSAT); long wavlength astronomy (IR, MW, radio), sky surveys (Palomar, Sloan DSS, 2dF, 2MASS);

Chapter 16 The Sun- Our Parent Star: physical properties; solar structure; energy transport mechanisms; solar atmosphere (photosphere, chromosphere & corona) and solar interior (core, radiative zone, convection zone); solar eclipses, ground based solar observatories & space missions (SOHO, Yohkoh, TRACE ); sunspots, sunspot cycles, prominences, plages, solar flares, the solar wind, solar-terrestrial interactions (aurorae, the "Little Ice Age"), the solar constant; solar energy production; nuclear fusion; proton - proton process; solar neutrinos; neutrino observatories;

Chapter 17 Red Giants and White Dwarfs - A Field Guide to the Stars:  stellar parallax and distances; nearest stars; brightest stars; trigonometric & spectroscopic parallax; stellar motions; luminosity; stellar magnitudes: apparent & absolute; stellar temperatures; UBV photometry, color indices; the distance formula; the stellar Spectral Classes (O, B, A, F, G, K, M, L); stellar radii; the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram; the Morgan-Keenan Luminosity Classes; Binary star types: visual, astrometric, spectroscopic, eclipsing; light curves; determination of  stellar masses; the mass-luminosity relationship; stellar lifetimes;

Chapter 18 The Interstellar Medium - Gas and Dust Among the Stars: Interstellar gas and dust; extinction and reddening; Nebulae types: emission, absorption, reflection; interstellar molecular clouds; HI and HII regions; the  21 cm line of HI; interstellar molecules;

Chapter 19  Star Formation - A Traumatic Birth: pre-MS evolution and evolutionary tracks; Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction; fragmentation; stellar nurseries; giant molecular clouds; protostars; Bok globules; HH objects; T-Tauri stars; ZAMS; OB associations, EGG's, the Orion Nebula as an example; H-R diagrams for clusters and the ages of stars; brown dwarfs;

Chapter 15 The Formation of Planetary Systems: nebula hypothesis for solar system formation; observations of proto-planetary disks; discovery of extra-solar planets;

Chapter 20  Stellar Evolution - The Life and Death of a Star: Red Giants, post-MS evolution, planetary nebulae, white dwarfs, degenerate matter, electron degeneracy pressure, Chandrasekhar limit, black dwarf, novae;

Chapter 21 Stellar Explosions - Novae, Supernovae and the Formation of the Elements: Red supergiants, mass loss processes; type I and II supernovae, supernovae remnants, observations of supernovae, SN1987A, synchrotron radiation, neutrinos, BBHF model, stellar nucleosynthesis processes;

Chapter 22 Neutron Stars and Black Holes- Strange States of Matter: neutron stars: theory & discovery, pulsars, lighthouse model, Crab Nebula, glitches, millisecond pulsars, binary pulsars, magnetars, gravitational waves, LIGO, X-ray binaries; SS 433; gamma ray bursts; Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, spacetime, stellar black holes, singularities, event horizons, Schwarzschild radius, ergosphere, candidates for black holes, x-ray astronomy, Cygnus X-1, wormholes, mini-black holes, supermassive black holes;

Chapter 23 The Milky Way Galaxy - A Spiral in Space:  structure of the Milky Way: arms, disk, nucleus, etc.; stellar populations (I and II); Variable stars-Cepheids, RR-Lyrae, Mira types, period-luminosity relationship; galactic models, ages, origins; density wave theories, star formation; galactic center, supermassive black holes); mass of the galaxy, rotation curves, dark matter;
Chapter 24 Normal and Active Galaxies - Building Blocks of the Universe: spiral nebulae, discovery of galaxies, Slipher, Hale & Hubble; types of galaxies-normal & barred spirals, ellipticals, spherical, irregular, peculiar; properties of galaxies; Hubble's Law & constant; the expanding universe; the distance scale, standard candles, the accelerating universe, structure of the universe, models for galaxy formation, dark matter; Active galaxies (AGN's); discovery of quasars, redshifts of quasars, importance of quasars; blazars, Seyfert galaxies, BL Lac objects; N-types, cosmic jets & superluminal velocities; radio galaxies, double lobe structures; supermassive black holes;

Chapter 25 Galaxies and Dark Matters - The Large-Scale Structure of the Cosmos:  galactic masses; rotation curves, dark matter; luminous matter; halos; intergalacic matter; colliding/interacting galaxies; galactic clusters; Active galaxies (AGN's); gravitational lensing and multiple quasar images; supermassive black holes; mapping dark matter;

Chapter 26 Cosmology - The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe: Olber's paradox, the cosmological principle; geometry of spacetime; Friedmann diagrams; the steady-state theory; the Big Bang, evidence for it-galactic redshifts & cosmic background radiation, COBE; dark matter, dark energy, normal and exotic matter; multiverses;

Chapter 27 The Early Universe - Toward the Beginning of Time: Creation of the first elements, (Big Bang nucleosynthesis), H/D ratios; missing mass problem, neutrinos: theory and observation, dark matter & dark energy; the forces of nature, families of matter, GUT's & TOE's, string theory; models for the universe-standard & inflationary; cosmic strings; Hubble Deep Field studies, new observations;

Chapter 28 Life in the Universe: models for origin of life on Earth and other planets; organic chemistry, amino acids, DNA & RNA; Urey-Miller experiments; life in extreme environments; life on Mars, Europa, etc.? ; the discovery of other planets and solar systems; radio astronomy, SETI, the Drake equation;

Tests:   The four exams will be mostly objective questions (T-F, multiple choice, matching, fill-ins) with some essay questions for extra credit. The lowest of the four grades will be dropped. THERE ARE NO MAKEUPS.

Grading: The breakdown will go like this:
                                                       Lab                                 25 points
                                                       Participation
                                                          (class and/or WEB)    15 points
                                                       Quizzes (drop lowest)
                                                       _  @ 20%                       60 points
                                                        Base Grade                 100 points
Extra credit points are added to your base grade to get to your final grade.

Extra Credit: Day and evening telescope observation sessions are available from the roof of the Physics building (conducted by Mr. Paul Lewis).  Mr. Lewis' office is next to the elevator on the first floor and his phone number/answering machine is at 974-9601.

If it is raining and you have scheduled a daytime observation or if you cannot see the Sun then you do not need to come or call.

At evening sessions where weather precludes observation Mr. Lewis will talk to you and show you a videotape (Usually that room is Phys 304 but not always. Check with him that evening using the phone, email or stopping by his office on the first floor to find out.) 

It is also very important that you try to do your observing as early as possible since bad weather usually causes many cancellations of extra credit sessions. This causes many students to miss their chance at extra credit. Don't let it be you!

One solar and one evening session will be considered for extra credit (5 points added to final grade). A stamped form from Mr. Lewis PLUS a one page typed essay description of your observing trip should be handed in to me for you to get full credit. Put Mr. Lewis' form on the top and staple both pages together before handing in..

We also arrange special trips to the Heritage Planetarium in Maryville for shows relevant to our course material.
These will be announced well in advance in class and on the ONLINE@utk site.

You can also watch astronomy videotapes in the Astronomy Reading Room at any time that you have available and the room is open (usually 8 a. m. - 10 p. m.). You will need to see me or one of the TA's to obtain a relevant video.
A two page typed report (stapled together) on what you have watched should be submitted to me for grading (1 point added to final grade). The subject of a video should relate to material covered during this semester, i.e., stars, observatories, spectroscopy, galaxies, neutron stars, white dwarfs, etc. (Not planets, moons, comets, asteroids -- that was  for Astronomy 161!)

You may also (with advance permission from me) do a research paper relating to material covered this semester but in much greater depth. You will be expected to meet with me about once a week to discuss references, outlines and drafts as you pursue your topic. A minimum of 10 outside references (articles in journals and books) are required and the paper must be 15 typed pages of text. This is a lot of work but an excellent paper will add a full letter grade to your final evaluation.

FOR MORE DETAILS USE EXTRA CREDIT BUTTON ON PREVIOUS WEBPAGE