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Introduction to Astronomy

Introduction to Astronomy. Dr. Daniel Schroeder Fall 2006. Today:. Course policies and goals A quick tour of the universe. What’s this course about?. A tour of the universe: planets, stars, galaxies For anyone who’s curious! Satisfies physical science gen ed

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Introduction to Astronomy

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  1. Introduction to Astronomy Dr. Daniel Schroeder Fall 2006

  2. Today: • Course policies and goals • A quick tour of the universe

  3. What’s this course about? • A tour of the universe: planets, stars, galaxies • For anyone who’s curious! • Satisfies physical science gen ed • No college-level prerequisites

  4. What you’re graded on • Homework (10%) • Projects (2 @ 15%) • Midterm tests (4 @ 10%) • Comprehensive final (20%) • Class participation in borderline cases (Please read syllabus for other policies)

  5. To get the most out of this course (and a decent grade)… • Come to class • Do all the homework and projects • Don’t procrastinate • Read with a pencil • Ask questions

  6. Will this course be hard? Here’s an analogy…

  7. Advantages of driving: • Quicker • Less effort • Don’t need to be physically fit

  8. Advantages of walking: • See a lot more • Exercise feels good • When you succeed, the mountain is “yours” • You get more credit

  9. Think of this course as a guided hike, not a drive-through tour. • Reasoning is more important than memorization. • It’s not just what we know, but also how we know it.

  10. Necessary equipment • Reading • Writing • Arithmetic

  11. Will the math be too hard? • High-school level arithmetic, algebra, geometry • We’ll review the obscure stuff. • Attitude is more important than ability. • If you’ve placed into “developmental math”, you might want to postpone this course.

  12. And now…The view from the summit

  13. Monte Python’s “Global View” Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolvingAnd revolving at 900 miles an hour,That's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckonedA sun that is the source of all our power.The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can seeAre moving at a million miles a dayIn an outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hourOf the galaxy we call the Milky Way.Our galaxy itself contains 100 billion starsIt's 100,000 light years side to side.It bulges in the middle, 16,000 light years thickBut out by us it's just 3,000 light years wideWe're 30,000 light years from galactic central point,We go round every 200 million yearsAnd our galaxy is only one of millions of billionsIn this amazing and expanding Universe.The Universe itself keeps on expanding and expandingIn all of the directions it can whizzAs fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know,12 million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there isSo remember when you're feeling very small and insecureHow amazingly unlikely is your birthAnd pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in spaceBecause there's bugger all down here on earth.

  14. Special offer! Find and document the inconsistency in the numbers in the song, and win a free Milky Way bar!(Fine print: Documentation must be in writing. You may use outside sources for clues, but the challenge is to find an inconsistency within the song itself. The error is significant--not merely a matter of rounding off.)

  15. Light travel times… • Across earth: 0.04 seconds • From moon: 1.3 seconds • From sun: 8 minutes • From Neptune: 4 hours

  16. Light travel times… • From nearest star: 4 years • From galactic center: 25,000 years • From Andromeda galaxy: 2 million years • From hot early universe: 14 billion years

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