Honors Introductory Astronomy (Astronomy
217)
Mike Guidry
Nielsen Physics
602
guidry@utk.edu
Fall, 2006
Class homepage: http://eagle.phys.utk.edu/guidry/astro217/
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Assignment
schedule
Homework
solutions
Lecture
Outlines
Class Meeting Times
Lecture: 12:20-1:10 pm, MWF (Nielsen Physics 306)
Lab:
7:45-9:35pm, Tuesday (Nielsen Physics 507)
Grade
The lecture grade will count 75% and the lab grade 25% of your final grade. This is a laboratory course and you cannot receive a passing grade for the course unless you complete the lab. I normally grade on a 10-point scale, unless a curve seems warranted once the final averages are computed. The components of your lab grade will be explained to you by the laboratory instructor. The lecture grade will consist of the following
Homework 25% (graded for completeness, not correctness, but outline solutions will be provided). 100% for homework turned in on time and complete. Minus 25% per day for late or incomplete. Here is the homework assignment schedule. Homework assignments should be turned in to me at the end of lecture on the date that they are due. Here are solutions for completed homework.
Three tests, each counting 25%. The three tests, including the final, will concentrate only on the material covered since the previous test. The tests will be given at approximately equally-spaced intervals during the semester. Generally, you will be responsible only for the material covered in lecture (not all material in the book), unless I specifically assign sections of the book not covered in lecture as fair game for a test.
Student Expectations
Students will be assumed to have a strong personal interest in astronomy. The course will be taught at a level that assumes a knowledge of freshman university-level physics and math. The course is not primarily about mathematics and physics, but we must understand a certain amount of each to understand astronomy. Most of the mathematics required will be algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, but occasionally we will need the most basic concepts from calculus (simple derivatives and integrals).
Textbook:
An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (2nd edition), by Bradley Carrol and Dale Ostlie (Pearson, 2006). It is large and expensive, but the best book available for what we want to cover. Purchase of the book is not mandatory, but it is highly recommended. This book is intended for a 300-level course, but we will omit some of the more difficult topics, and simplify some of the lecture presentation relative to the book, to make it appropriate for a 200-level honors course. We will try to survey most of the chapters in the book during the two semesters of 217-218, but we will not be covering all topics in depth within each chapter because of time limitations.
Sequence of Chapters to Be Covered in First Semester (Astronomy 217)
Chapters 1-6: Tools of astronomy
Chapters 19-23: Solar systems (including extra-solar planets)
Chapters 7-12: The nature and formation of stars
You may download Lecture Outlines as PDF files. Note that these are the files that I use to lecture from, so they outline the basic material but do not contain all of the comments that I make as part of lecture.
Office Hours
I am generally around Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and often Tuesday. I am normally at ORNL on Thursday. You may drop by at any time, or I am happy to set an appointment time for you. My office is 602 Nielsen Physics (also check room 606 if I am not in 602). You may reach me by email at guidry@utk.edu, or phone at 865-974-7810 (email is the surest way to get my attention quickly).