AST204  -  Spring 2007 

Topics in Modern Astronomy

• Professors:     Jim Stone, Alice Shapley
• TA:     Nicole Lemaster
• Lecture Time:    MWF 2:30-3:20
• Lecture Room:    Peyton 145
• Textbook:   An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics 2nd ed.,  by Carroll & Ostlie

Class Information

• Course Syllabus and schedule (PDF file)
• HOMEWORK Check the AST204 space on the Blackboard website for up to date information on Homeworks and Exams. 
• LECTURES Similarly, the AST204 space on the Blackboard website has electronic versions of the lectures you can download starting at 12:00pm on the day of the lecture. 

Material to Help You Out

GENERAL

• Flyby toward stars of the Orion constellation
• Computer Programs for use in AST204.
• Watch the planets move around the Sun on their actual orbits! Follow this link to the Inner Solar System and Outer Solar System animations. Check out the orbits of all 67 moons orbiting the planets in our Solar System!
• JavaLab for the curious. Collide or cannibalize your own galaxies, explore the expansion history of the cosmos, and more!
• Astronomy Picture of the Day This site is updated daily and has a nice archive of pretty astronomy images.
• Predictions for artificial satellites
• Aristotle and Ptolemy
• Copernicus
• Galileo
• Kepler
• Binary star simulation Java simulation of orbits of binary stars (Newton's Laws)
• Weight calculator Calculate your weight on other planets and the Moon
• Lunar cycle   Images of the moon through the lunar cycle
• Simulation of Moon Formation  Large Impact hypothesis simulation
• Black Body java applet Click on different temperatures to see how peak wavelength changes.  Also try de-selecting auto-x and auto-y
• Spectra of Elements  Click on an element's symbol to see its absorption or emission spectrum
• Stellar Parallax  Watch the change in position of stars as Earth orbits the Sun

• Welcome to the Planets Information about planets and spaceprobes from JPL.
• Planets of the Solar System More general information about planets.
• Galileo mission to Jupiter.
• Cassini mission to Saturn.
• Mars Exploration Rover mission page.
• NEAR mission to asteroid Eros.
• Comet Information This page contains information about recently discovered comets.
• Comet Crash pictures and movies.
• Spacewatch This page contains information about this program which searches for near Earth objects.
• Extra Solar Planets Astronomers have discovered planets around other stars. The list lengthens all the time!
• Exoplanets encyclopedia More details about exoplanets (planets around stars other than the Sun).

STARS & OUR GALAXY

• Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum Good information about light.
• TRACE Spacecraft Wonderful images and movies of the upper chromosphere and corona of our Sun.
• The Stellar Spectral Sequence. The colors and spectra of stars.
• Structure and Evolution of Stars What happens when a star runs out of fuel?
• Novae and Supernovae The most violent events in the Universe!
• Binary Stars This page contains general information on binary stars.
• Pulsars Hear them tick!
• Neutron stars An introduction to some of their many faces.
• Black Hole Candidates This page contains information on Cygnus X-1, LMC X-3, and other black hole candidates.
• Videos of compact objects, including the expected appearance of things in the vicinity of black holes.

• Galaxy appearance and classification.
• Relativity Everything that you want to know about General Relativity, curved spacetime, and gravitational radiation!
• Cosmology How did the Universe begin? How will it end?
• Large Scale Structure Clusters & Superclusters of Galaxies. What do they look like?
• Dark Matter: What is dark matter? What is it made of?
• Some alternatives to dark matter.
• Supernovae Cosmology Project

HD177830 b and Moon
Copyright © Lynette R. Cook, All Rights Reserved, Used with Permission.