Astr 150 syllabus (PDF) for fall semester 2009.
ASTR 150 Review Sheet.
Individual scores and composite score (grade) for each student, listed by the last 5 digits of your ID number. Leading zeros were lost. Includes 2nd test, but not HW #5.
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ASTR 150 Homework 5: Due Tuesday, Nov 3. What is due: answers to chapter-end questions in Bless: Chapter 11, # 4,5,6,7,8; and Chapter 12, # 17 and 18.
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ASTR 150 Homework 4: Due Tuesday Oct 27.
Jewett Observatory Question Sheet.
What is due: this sheet of paper with your name in the upper right and at least half of the questions answered. |
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ASTR 150 Homework 3: Due Thursday Oct 15.
Invent at least one mnemonic for the OBAFGKM spectral type sequence for stars.
What is due: a sheet of paper with your name in the upper right and at least one mnemonic written down. |
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ASTR 150 Homework 2: Due Tuesday Sept 15.
What is due: A "lab report" on an experiment that each student will
design and execute. Collaboration on the experiment is allowed, but
each student will take their own data. Usual lab reports have headings
hypothesis, procedure/experiment design, data, analysis, conclusions/discussion.
Hypothesis to be tested: Aristotle's theory of gravity. Objects fall because "earth" is attracted to "earth." Therefore, an object twice as heavy will fall twice as quickly to the ground. However, objects such as a bird's feather may have some of the element "air" in them and may not fall quickly at all. Nearly two millenia later, Galileo disputed this theory, saying that all objects fell at the same acceleration, no matter what their mass. Who was right?
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ASTR 150 Homework 1: Due Thursday Sept 3.
What is due: 2 sketches on separate sheets, one page with a short
writeup that summarizes the procedure, the results, and the
conclusions that you draw. Procedure: On a clear night after dark, choose an outdoor location with a clear horizon view. Sketch both foreground objects (trees? buildings?) and brighter stars, positioned as well as you can. ONE HOUR LATER, repeat the sketch from exactly the same location. (Note: the north direction is trickier that the other compass points; if you face north you may want to spend longer between sketches and do an especially careful sketch.) Examine your sketches and draw what conclusions you can logically draw. Writeups should include your name and number at the top, and, if typewritten, fonts 12 points or greater in size for my bleary eyes. The rest of the format I leave to your sense of aesthetics. Useful trick: rough angle measurement across the sky: the row of your knuckles, with fist held at arm's length, is about ten degrees across. You can use this to gauge the angular separation between stars and stars or stars and objects.
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