The Universe
Detailed outlines of each lecture will be made available on this page (simply click on the lecture as listed below), usually within 24 hours of the lecture itself. Click here for a guide to what you should read in the textbooks.
The exact schedule of the observing sessions may be changed, due to the vagaries of weather. Review sessions for the midterm and final will be scheduled.
| Tuesday February 5 |
Introduction:
Our Solar System and Life (Chapters 1 and 7 of CP) |
| Thursday February 7 |
Motions on the Sky and Ancient Astronomy
(Chapters 2 and 3 of CP) |
| Tuesday February 12 |
The Coperican
Revolution:
Science and Skepticism (Chapter 3 of CP) |
| Discussion/Problem Session: Wednesday, February 13 7:30-9:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium | |
| Thursday February 14 | Kepler, Newton, and The Law of Universal
Gravitation (Chapter 4 of CP) Homework #1 due. Observing session, February 14, Peyton Hall, 8 PM (for those whose names start with A-F) |
| Tuesday February 19 | Philosophy of
Science. Thermal Radiation
(Chapter 5 of CP) |
| Observing session, February 19, 8 PM, Peyton Hall (for those whose last names start with G-M) | |
| Thursday February 21 | Radioactive Dating: How Old is the
Solar System?
(Chapters 8 and 9 of CP) |
|
Discussion/Problem Session: Monday, February 25,
7:30-9:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium
|
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| Tuesday February 26 |
Planetary Habitability and the Greenhouse
Effect. (Chapter 10
of CP) Homework #2 due. |
| Observing session, February 26, 8 PM, Peyton Hall (for those whose names start with N-Z) | |
| Thursday February 28 | Life in the Solar System and Beyond
(Chapter 24 of CP) |
| Trip to Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, Friday afternoon, February 29 |
| Tuesday March 4 | The
Properties of Stars
(Chapter 15 of CP) Discussion/Problem Session: Wednesday, March 5, 7:30-9:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium |
| Thursday March 6 |
How do stars shine? (Chapter 14 of CP) Homework #3 due |
| Tuesday March 11 | Star Life and Star Death
(Chapters 15, 16, 17 of CP) |
| Wednesday March 12 | Discussion/Review for midterm, 7:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium (tentative date) |
| Thursday March 13 | Midterm Exam in class |
| Spring Break! | |
| Tuesday March 25 | Stellar Explosions and the Interstellar Medium
(Chapters 16, 17, 19 of CP) |
| Thursday March 27 | The Structure of the Milky Way
(Chapter 19 of CP) |
| Tuesday April 1 | The Expansion of the Universe
(Chapter 20, 22 of CP) |
| Thursday April 3 |
The Big Bang
(Chapters 22, 23 of CP) |
| Discussion/Problem Session, Monday, April 7, 7:30-9:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium | |
| Tuesday April 8 |
Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, Part I
(Chapter S2 of CP; Chapters 1 and 2 of TTEU) Homework #4 due |
| Thursday April 10 | Einstein's
Special Theory of Relativity, Part II (Chapter S2 of
CP; Chapters 1 and 2 of TTEU) Observing session, April 10, 9 PM, Peyton Hall |
| Tuesday April 15 | Einstein's
General Theory of Relativity (Chapter S3 of CP;
Chapters 1 and 2 of TTEU) |
| Discussion/Problem Session, Wednesday, April 16, 7:30-9:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium | |
| Thursday April 17 | Black
Holes (Chapter 18 of CP; Chapter 3 of TTEU) Homework #5 due |
| Tuesday April 22 |
Cosmic
Strings, Wormholes, and Time Travel
(Chapters S3 and S4 of CP; Chapter 3 of
TTEU) Observing session, April 22, 9 PM, Peyton Hall |
| Thursday April 24 | The Big
Bang
and the Shape of the Universe (Chapters
22 and 23 of CP;
Chapter 4 of TTEU) |
| Tuesday April 29 | Inflation, and Recent Developments in Cosmology
(Chapters 22 and 23 of CP; Chapter 4 of TTEU) |
| Discussion/Problem Session: Wednesday, April 30, 7:30-9:30 PM, Peyton Hall Auditorium | |
| Thursday May 1 | Our Future
in the Universe (Chapter 5 of TTEU) Homework #6 due |
| Wednesday, May 7 | Review for final, 7:30 PM, Peyton
Hall auditorium |
| Saturday, May 17 | Final exam, 1:30 PM, McDonnell A02 |