ASTR 101, Sept-Dec 2006

Instructor

Professor Brett Gladman --> My web page
Tel: (604) 822-6244 email: gladman'at'astro.ubc.ca (substitute @ for 'at')

Room 300B, Hennings (Physics and Astronomy) Building

OFFICE HOURS.

Thu Nov 30 3:00-4:00 in Hennings 300B
Tue Dec 5 2:30-3:30 in Hennings 300B
Wed Dec 6 2:30-3:30 in Hennings 300B
Thu Dec 7 10:30-11:30 in Hennings 312, BACK ROOM
Thu Dec 7 2:00- 3:00 in Hennings 312, BACK ROOM
Fri Dec 8 10:30-11:30 in Hennings 312, BACK ROOM
Fri Dec 8 2:00- 3:00 in Hennings 312, BACK ROOM
Mon Dec 11 9:30-10:30 in Hennings 300B

ASTR Cumulative Course Syllabus (Sept-Dec 2006).

NOTE: Chapter S1 is between chapters 3 and 4 in the text.

Date    Lecture Topic                                         Chapter
------  -----------------------------------------             -------
Sep  6  Introduction. Course logistics, Units		      1, App. C
Sep  8  Basic Sky Phenomena. The celestial sphere	      2.1
Sep 11  Diurnal motions		                              S1.2,2.2
Sep 13  Time-keeping and Calendars		              S1.1,S1.3
Sep 15  Precession. Seasons.			              2.2
Sep 18  The motion of the Moon and eclipses.	              2.3
Sep 20  The motion of the planets.	              	      2.4, 3.1-3.2
Sep 22  Copernicus to Newton; the birth of modern science     3.3-3.5
Sep 25  Motion and Gravity     				      4.1-4.4
Sep 27  Planetary Dynamics,Tides			      4.5
Sep 29  The nature of light and spectra			      5.1-5.2
Oct  2  Energy, matter, temperature		      	      5.3-5.4
Oct  4  Doppler shift. Telescopes			      5.5, Ch. 6
Oct  6  Solar System survey 			      	      Ch. 7
Oct  9  No class - Thanksgiving				      ----
Oct 11  The Sun                                               Chapter 14
Oct 13  Star formation and the solar nebula		      8.1 - 8.2
Oct 16  Planet formation				      8.3 - 8.4
   PRE-MIDTERM MATERIAL ENDED HERE
Oct 18  Meteorites					      12.1
Oct 20  Cosmochemistry and ages				      8.5+handouts
Oct 23  Terrestrial planet interiors			      9.1, 9.2
Oct 25  Midterm examination.  In class.			      ----
	Midterm will cover up to and including Oct 16th.
Oct 27  The surface of Mercury and the Moon		      9.2
Oct 30  Impact cratering                               	      9.2-9.3
Nov  1  end of Impact cratering                               --
Nov  3  Planetary Rotation                                    various
Nov  6  Planetary Atmospheres : Equilibrium, Heat balance     10.1,
Nov  8  Planetary Atmospheres : Climate histories             10.3-10.5
Nov 10  Mars  					              9.4

Nov 13  Rememberance day; no lecture			      ----
Nov 15  Earth and Venus; geophysics and climate change	      9.5-9.5,10.6
Nov 17  Previous lecture continued.

Nov 20  Asteroids and comets                                  Chapter 12
Nov 22  The impact hazard				      12.4
Nov 24  Jovian planets 					      11.1

Nov 27  Snowed out!			              	      ---
Nov 29  Giant-planet satellites			              11.2
Dec  1  Life in the Solar System                              24.1-24.3

NEVER   Extrasolar Planets (by class vote!)      	      Chapter 13

SELECTED LECTURES for ASTR 101. Password protected.

Reading Suggestions

The Measure of All Things, by Ken Alder. History of the determination of the meter.
Longitude, by Dava Sobel. 180 pages. Extremely well-written and engaging.
The Calendar, by David E. Duncan. 360 pages. A more technical slant, but not difficult
Why People Believe Weird Things, By M. Shermer. 350 pages. About critical thinking.

Wanna see a cool astronomy picture? Click Here

Assignment 1. Due Friday Sept 22nd, 5 PM.

Available as a PDF file : Click here
The academic conduct information form (see below) MUST BE HANDED IN ATTACHED to Assignment 1.
ERRATA FOR ASSIGNMENT 1 :
Question 3:
The 'semimajor axis' of the orbit is the radius of these circular orbits.
You might be more comfortable if you replace the term 'angular distance' by 'angular separation'; see Box 2.1 of your textbook.

Assignment 2

Due Wednesday Oct 11th, 5 PM.

Available as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. ( DOWNLOAD)

ERRATA for assignment 2.
None yet. Check here if a question arises.

2005 Midterm cover pages.

Available as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. ( DOWNLOAD)

Assignment 3

Handed out Wednesday Nov 1st.
Due Wednesday Nov 8th, 5 PM.

Available as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. ( DOWNLOAD)

ERRATA for assignment 3.
If not clear, you may take the density of the projectile to be 3 grams/cubic cenitmeter, or 3000 kg/cubic meter.

Question 1. Typo: Average density of Earth is 5500 kg/cubic meter, not km.

Assignment 4

Due Friday Dec 1st, 5 PM.

Available as a PDF file ( DOWNLOAD)

ERRATA for assignment 4:
None yet. Check here if a question arises.


Section Listing

---------------

Day		Section		 TA
Monday   13:00	  L1D		Thomas
Tuesday  9:00	  L1F		Jaime
Tuesday  12:00	  L1A		Jon
Thursday 10:00	  L1B		Jon
Thursday 14:00	  L1C		Jaime