August 28:

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Angles
• 3. Powers of 10
• 4. Distances

August 30:

READING: Chapter 1; first two sections of Appendix 2
• 1. The CAPA Homework
• 2. Review
• 3. The Celestial Sphere
• 4. Some Definitions
• 5. The Seasons

September 4:

READING: Chapter 2, p. 22-35.
• 1. Constellations
• 2. Precession
• 3. Phases of the Moon
• 4. Moonrise

September 6:

READING: Appendix 11.
• 1. Eclipses
• 2. Synchronous Rotation
• 3. Lunar Month vs. Sidereal Month
• 4. Celestial Coordinates

September 11:

NO CLASS

September 13:

• 1. Finding Planets in the Sky
• 2. Sidereal Period vs. Synodic Period
• 3. Retrograde Motion of the Planets
• 4. Quiz #1

September 18:

• 1. Review of Quiz #1
• 2. Measuring the Size of the Earth
• 3. Babylonian Astronomy
• 4. Ancient Greek Astronomy
• 5. Evidence for a Spherical Earth
• 6. The Relative Size of the Earth and Moon

September 20:

READING: Rest of Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4, p. 62-66.
• 1. The Size of the Sun
• 2. Hipparchus
• 3. Ptolemy
• 4. Ancient Astronomy in Other Cultures
• 5. Copernicus
• 6. Tycho

September 25:

READING: Rest of Chapter 4.
• 1. Kepler's Laws
• 2. Inertia
• 3. Falling Objects
• 4. Galileo's Astronomical Observations

September 27:

• 1. Newton's First Law
• 2. Newton's Second Law
• 3. Newton's Third Law
• 4. Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
• 5. Quiz #2

October 2:

READING: Chapter 5, p. 82-92.
• 1. Review of Quiz #2
• 2. Weightlessness
• 3. Units
• 4. Types of Energy
• 5. Newton's Revision of Kepler's Third Law

October 4:

READING: Rest of Chapter 5.
• 1. Center of Mass
• 2. Momentum
• 3. Escape Velocity
• 4. Tides

October 9:

READING: Chapter 6, p. 100-104.
• 1. The Wave Nature of Light
• 2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
• 3. Radiative Energy
• 4. Thermal Radiation
• 5. Wien's Law

October 11:

• 1. Wien's Law (Continued)
• 2. Stefan-Boltzmann Law
• 3. Quiz #3

October 16:

READING: Chapter 6, p. 105-109.
• 1. Review of Quiz #3
• 2. Luminosity vs. Brightness
• 3. Emission Line Spectra
• 4. Absorption Line Spectra
• 5. Kirchoff's Laws

October 18:

• 1. Atoms and Energy Levels
• 2. Ions and Isotopes
• 3. Hydrogen Energy Levels
• 4. Doppler Shifts
• 5. Refraction

October 23:

READING: Rest of Chapter 6.
• 1. Refraction (Continued)
• 2. Refracting Telescopes
• 3. Diffraction
• 4. Resolution
• 5. Reflection
• 6. Reflecting Telescopes
• 7. Non-Optical Telescopes

October 25:

• 1. Review of Homework #4
• 2. Inventory of the Solar System
• 3. Motions in the Solar System
• 4. Quiz #4

October 30:

• 1. Review of Quiz #4
• 2. Classification of Planets
• 3. The Formation of the Solar System
• 4. Differentiation
• 5. Planetary Atmospheres

November 1:

READING: Chapter 7.
• 1. Planetary Atmospheres (Continued)
• 2. Greenhouse Effect
• 3. Convection
• 4. The Coriolis Force
• 5. Plate Tectonics

November 6:

• 1. Mapping the Interiors of Planets
• 2. Magnetic Dynamos
• 3. Scale Model of the Solar System

November 8:

READING: Chapter 8, p. 154-167.
• 1. More on Plate Tectonics
• 2. Radioactive Dating

November 13:

• 1. The Surface of the Moon
• 2. The Formation of the Moon
• 3. Quiz #5

November 15:

• 1. Video on Mars

November 20:

READING: Rest of Chapter 8; Chapter 9, p. 184-202.
• 1. The Leonids
• 2. Spacecraft to the Planets
• 3. Surface Features on Mars
• 4. Surface Features on Venus

November 27:

READING: Rest of Chapter 9; Chapter 10, p. 212-229, 232-235.
• 1. The Surface of Mercury
• 2. The Jovian Planets
• 3. The Martian Moons
• 4. The Galilean Moons

November 29:

• 1. The Galilean Moons (Continued)
• 2. Other Moons of Jupiter
• 3. Titan
• 4. Other Moons of Saturn
• 5. The Moons of Uranus
• 6. Triton, Pluto, and Charon
• 7. Quiz #6

December 4:

• 1. Review of Quiz #6
• 2. Sun Lab

December 6:

READING: Rest of Chapter 10; Chapter 11.
• 1. Planetarium Show: Life in the Universe