PHYSICS 1051 Planetary Astronomy Fall 2012

Course Description:
This course is an introductory astronomy course. Astronomy has so many subfields that it is impossible to cover them all in one semester. Hence, this course deals with the solar system (hence "Planetary Astronomy") and leaves out most of the material on the stars, galaxies and cosmology. We begin with historical and modern understanding of the naked eye universe: that which we can see without a telescope. We then look in detail at the solar system: planets, their myriad moons, comets, and asteroids. We now have data on numerous extrasolar planets (planets around other stars) which challenge our theories of solar system evolution.

A major theme of this quarter is learning by comparison. The term "comparitive planetology" is often used to describe how we can verify our hypotheses about the Earth by comparing it to the other planets (especially Venus and Mars). Similarly, we are now refining our overall view of the formation of our solar system by comparing to extrasolar systems. I plan on taking you to the new ONU Observatory to use telescopes and look at the sky. Try to ``keep an eye on the sky" during this course and bring your questions and news items to class for discussion.

The course is also tagged to fulfill a general education outcome (#3) called 'scientific and quantitative literacy'. One assignment will also be an 'artifact' showing how this outcome was met. Only students entering ONU on or after Fall 2011 have to be concerned with actually archiving the artifact.

A calendar of topics is outlined below.

Schedule (tentative):

Week of	Topic	Chapter(s)	Tests	Observatory Targets
8/22,24	Syllabus. Survey of Universe.	1	Survey	Constellations/Planets
8/27,29,31	Naked Eye Universe - the celestial sphere, seasons, etc	1	quiz1	Constellations/Planets
9/3	Labor Day
9/5,7	Moon and eclipses, Copernican Revolution	1,2	quiz2	The Moon
9/10,12,14	Copern. Rev., Solar System Physics	2	quiz3	Satellites
9/17,19,21	Radiation and our Sun	3,4,16	Exam I	The Sun
9/24,26,28	Solar System Overview, Earth	6	quiz4
10/1,3,5	Earth	7	quiz5
10/8,10,12	Moon, Mercury, Venus	8,9	quiz6	Moon
10/15,17,19	Venus, Mars	9,10	quiz7	Mercury, Mars
10/22,24,26	Jupiter	11	Exam II	Jupiter (>9 pm)
10/29,31; 11/2	Saturn	12	quiz8	Jupiter, Neptune
11/5,7,9	Uranus and Neptune	13	quiz9	Uranus
11/12,14,16	Pluto and Solar System Debris	14	quiz10	Meteors, Jupiter
11/19,21,23	Thanksgiving Recess
11/26,29,30	Formation of Planetary Systems	6,15	quiz11
12/3,5,7	Exoplanets / Extraterrestrial Life	15,28
12/14 (Fri)	Comprehensive Final at 9:15-11:15 AM, usual classroom.	_	Final exam.

Grading:

Observing
Worksheets, Visiting Observatory
10%

In-class Homework, in-class worksheets, participation 20%

Quizzes Quizzes (drop lowest grade) 20%

Exams There will be two exams and a final. 50%

Total
100%

Your final letter grade is assigned roughly as follows:


<55	55-68	68-78	78-88	88-100
F	D	C	B	A

I will not to grade any "harder" than the above. However, if the class mean drops below about 73, I will grade more leniently.

Course Policies

Attendance is important for doing well in this course. Absenteeism can directly lower your grade if you miss a quiz or in-class activity. Your attendance record can also help boost your grade if you fall on a grade boundary. Let me know in advance (e-mail is good) if you plan to miss for a valid reason (e.g. your team is on the road, you are sick, you have a family emergency). If you miss a quiz or exam because of an emergency, let me know as soon as possible, and provide proof of the emergency. "Proof" may be some contact information for the authority figures involved. If you miss an in-class worksheet activity, you should get a copy of the worksheet but you won't receive credit for that work.

Homework will consist mainly of reading the textbook and writing answers to review questions (and occasional problems) from the textbook. Math ability (or lack thereof) will not have a great influence on graded material, but you should try to improve your problem solving skills during this course. Homework will receive 50% credit if turned in late. If you foresee yourself missing a deadline because of an excusable absence, again, let me know ahead of time. Written assignments will be scored to varying degrees on completeness and correctness, but not every problem will be corrected. I encourage you to discuss homework with your classmates. Don't copy their work verbatim.

Quizzes will be given on non-exam weeks. They will consist of about 10 multiple choice/short answer questions. They cover the assigned reading and especially the material discussed in class. You can only make up a quiz that was missed because of a valid conflict or emergency. Also, you can only make up the quiz before the answers are revealed (usually the next period). For this reason, I will drop your lowest quiz score.

Exams will be given roughly every 5 weeks. These will weigh most heavily towards your class grade. The final exam will be comprehensive, but will emphasize the last 5-6 weeks of material.

Disruptions. If you are interfering with the learning of the class, or you are distracting the teacher, you need to stop. Texting and surfing the web are considered disruptive. Talking during a lecture is disruptive. Don't arrive too late or leave too early (without an urgent personal reason).

Cheating will not be tolerated. During tests, do not use outside references like laptops, calculators, or notes UNLESS I explicitly allow them. Do not look at another person's quiz or exam while you are taking one. Also, if you suspect someone is copying your answers, try to prevent it by moving or shielding your answers. Before tests, you may be asked to sit in a different spot in order to spread people out. The penalty for cheating is a zero score for the quiz or exam.

Calculators I encourage you to use a calculator in this class. A simple calculator will suffice.

Tutoring is available. You are welcome to drop by during my office hours, or you can make an appointment. I will look for a previous astronomy student to provide tutoring. The physics department usually has tutors on W and/or Th evenings (TBA) at Sci Annex 116, but they have not necessarily taken astronomy. You can also try the tutors provided by A&S, although they may not have astronomy experience, they can probably do any math problem in this class.

Lab (astro minors only):
The lab for this class is Physics 1081. Please sign up for this lab during the first week only if you are an astronomy minor. (Astronomy minors have to take PHYS 2311, 2321, 3471, etc.) Otherwise, you do not need the lab. See the instructor to arrange meeting time and place.

Exploratorium's Astro Links Pinkney's Homepage The ONU Physics Homepage

Observing	Worksheets, Visiting Observatory	10%
In-class	Homework, in-class worksheets, participation	20%
Quizzes	Quizzes (drop lowest grade)	20%
Exams	There will be two exams and a final.	50%
Total		100%