Introductory Astronomy

Catalog description

Credits: 3 Corequisite: Concurrent registration in, or previous successful completion of, PHYS 110L . Typically Offered: FALL Brief history of ancient astronomy; the Copernican revolution and the beginning of modern astronomy (Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton); the appearance of the night sky, revolution and rotation of the Earth, celestial coordinate systems, the calendar and seasons; the nature of light and telescopes; structure and origin of the solar system; the Earth, atmospheric phenomena (rainbows, haloes, aurora, etc.) the Moon; the planets and their satellites; comets and solar system debris (asteroids and meteorites); distances and motions of the stars; formation of stellar spectra; the Sun; evolution of ordinary stars; evolution of massive stars and supernovae; neutron stars, pulsars and black holes; the Milky Way and other galaxies; the expanding universe, quasars and cosmology.