ASTR206b Spring 2011 |
Instructor: Beth Willman Class: TTh 10 -
11:30 am in the observatory - to be
changed |
Overview:
This is the second half of a year-long introduction to astrophysical topics. This course will provide a physically motivated, contemporary overview of the beginning to end of the universe and everything in-between. The framework we will develop is also a pre-requisite to the study of more advanced astronomical topics. When appropriate, we will enrich our study with material outside of our text, including research articles. By the end of this year-long course, you will have experience in both basic observational and computational astronomical techniques and the ability to read basic papers in the research literature.Labs:
During Fall semester, three observational astronomy projects acquainted you with basic observational techniques and analysis. To complement this observational experience, we will conduct two computational astronomy labs during the Spring semester. These labs will teach you about numerical simulations as a technique to study the universe.Assignments and Grading:
Homework assignments will be due roughly every other Tuesday, for a total of 6 homeworks over the course of the semester. Late work will be penalized by 10% for each day it is late (excluding weekends). There will be a midterm and a cumulative final exam. The grading breakdown will be: homework (35%), labs (15%), exams (35%), participation (15%). I grade down homework for being unstapled, sloppy or otherwise incoherent. Participation is broadly defined and includes attendance, completing reading assignments, engagement during lectures, quality of homework effort. (I'll explain this in class).