Astro 4-1 Stars, Galaxies, and the Origin of the Universe

Spring '24 Schedule

Note below the last day of finals - last day to withdraw and receive a "W", and last day to request a P/NP. After this, you receive a grade no matter what: I have no choice.

It is your responsibility to log in to Canvas and note the unlock times for all exams on Canvas!

By popular demand, all quizzes will be on Canvas. This will also save time for us for lectures during our precious classroom time. We can discuss whether you want the Final exam on Canvas, with expanded unlock time, or just the 3 hrs but live in the classroom. Last semester, the vote was for on Canvas.


Mon Jan 29 :
Introduction, syllabus, bits of Ch 1, Chapter 0 - Principles of Clear Thinking and Scientific Method , On Teaching , Ch 3.5,4: Astrology as example of bogus pseudoscience

Wed Jan 31: Finish Chapter 0, On Teaching , Ch 3 - Historical Astronomy (brief),

Mon Feb 5: Ch 4 - Kepler's Laws, Forces, angular momentum, and deriving the Law of Gravity from Galileo's observations

Sat Feb 10: deadline to drop/add a full term course, and get refund for drops, and deadline to drop w/o getting a "W" on your record

Wed Feb 7:
Ch 4 - Tides, properties of gravity, Ch S1,2 - Einstein and Modern Gravity

Mon Feb 12: Ch S1,2 - Einstein and modern gravity, Ch 5 - Light and Matter

Mon Feb 12: Census submittal deadline at 11:59pm

Wed Feb 14: Ch 5 - Light and Matter

Mon Feb 19- President's Day Holiday; no class

Wed Feb 21: finish up "Light and Matter"

Mon Feb 26: Ch 6 - Telescopes and Detectors.

Wed Feb 28:
Ch 14 - The Sun, Fusion, Structure

Mon Mar 4: Ch 14 - The Sun, Structure, Solar Wind.

Wed Mar 6: Sun's effect on Earth, sunspots, climate. Start Ch 15 - Surveying the Stars.

Mon Mar 11:
Ch 15 - Surveying the Stars, Ch 16 - The Birth of Stars. Zoom recording from a past class

Wed Mar 13: Ch 16 - The Birth of Stars and Stellear Evolution of low mass stars (Zoom recording from a past class)

Mon Mar 18: Ch 17 - Ch 17 - Stellar Evolution of low mass stars and medium mass stars

Wed Mar 20:
Evolution of medium mass stars and red giants

Mon/Wed Mar 25 and 27: Spring Break - no class

Mon Apr 1: Cesar Chavez Day - holiday, no classes.

Wed Apr 3:
Ch 17, 18 - High Mass Stars, Supernovae, Binary Star Evolution

Mon Apr 8: Ch 17,18 - Black Holes and stellar degeneracy

Wed Apr 9:
Ch 19 - Our Milky Way Galaxy,

Mon Apr 15: Ch 20 Galaxies in general

Wed Apr 17: Ch 20,21 - Galaxy types, Galaxy evolution

Mon Apr 22:
Quasars and Active Galaxies

Wed Apr 24: Ch 21; Quasars, Ch 22 - Dark Matter; Evidence for Dark Matter

Mon Apr 29: Dark Matter candidates and possibilities

Wed May 1: Chap 24, Dark Matter,

Mon May 6: Ch 23, Large Scale Structure, cosmological simulations

Wed May 8: Ch 23, Large Scale Structure, Dark Energy

Mon May 13: Ch 23, 24 - Inflation, the Multi-verse, the Anthropic Principle, Life and quantum uncertainty

Wed May 15: Life and implications for the Nature of the Universe.

May 20-24: Finals Week: Zoom session (optional) from 8-10am Wed May 22.

May 24 - Graduation ceremony in the stadium

May 27 11:59pm - Deadline for grade submissions by Instructors