ASTR 151 -- Doing Astronomy

Time and Location: T 4:30-5:20, Sears 552

Instructor: Professor Chris Mihos

Office: Sears 557

Office Hours: T/Th 3-4, or by appointment

E-mail: mihos@case.edu

Phone: 368-3729

Website: http://burro.case.edu/Academics/Astr151/

Grading: This course is pass/fail. A passing grade will be earned if you do the following things:

Attend. (More than 3 unexcused absences will be grounds for failure.)

Participate in discussion.

Do the readings before class.

Weekly Homework Assignment: Before class, read the reading assignment and write down three questions or comments for class discussion. These questions will be turned in at the end of the class period.

Tentative Topic List and Reading Assignments

Jan 13	Intro, welcome, etc (no reading assignment)
Jan 20	Pluto: Planet or Not? Readings: Two short articles from the discovery phase of the new dwarf planets: New Kings of the Kuiper Belt (Sky & Telescope, Oct 2005) The 10th Planet (Astronomy, November 2005) Two webpages from Mike Brown's website: The Dwarf Planet Page The Eight Planets
Jan 27	News from Mars: Rovers, Water, and Life? 3D images from Mars rovers Readings: The Red Planet's Watery Past, Scientific American, Dec 2006 The Mystery of Methane on Mars and Titan, Scientific American, May 2007 Web Update: Is Something Organic Brewing on the Red Planet? Scientific American online, Jan 15 2009
Feb 3	The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Reading: Two articles from Mercury magazine
Feb 10	The Violent Lives of Galaxies: Collisions and Mergers Reading: When Galaxies Collide, Mercury Magazine, July/Aug 2001 When Galaxies Collide, Astronomy Magazine, September 2005
Feb 17	Dark Matter and Alternative Gravity Reading: Dark Matter in the Universe, Scientific American, 1998 Battlefield Galactica, Sky and Telescope, April 2007
Feb 24	Stellar Spectroscopy and Chemical Abundances Guest presentation: Professor Luck
Mar 3	Astronomy Careers and Observatory Life
Mar 10	Spring Break!
Mar 17	The History of the Warner and Swasey Observatory Guest presentation: Dr. Harding
Mar 24	Dark Energy and the Fate of the Universe Reading: What's Inflating the Universe?, Sky & Telescope, February 2009 Will Dark Energy Tear the Universe Apart?, Astronomy, February 2009
Mar 31	Asteroid Impacts Reading: Collisions with Comets and Asteroids, Scientific American, 1996 The Most Dangerous Asteroid Ever Found, Sky and Telescope, 2006
Apr 7	Galactic Archaeology Reading: The Ghosts of Galaxies Past Guest presentation: Professor Morrison
Apr 14	Large Scale Structure in the Universe Guest presentation: Professor Zehavi
Apr 21	Galaxy Clusters Guest presentation: Craig Rudick

Useful Links:

Stellarium software package