AST1002 (Fall 2025)
Undergraduate course, Florida State University, 2025
Planets, Stars, and Galaxies
- Instructor: Prof. Daniel D. Sega (email)
- Instructor’s Office: 2nd Floor, Faculty Wing
- Course Times: Fall 2025, Mon./Wed. 1:00-2:15pm
- Location: Room 207
- Office Hours: 2nd Floor Faculty Wing or Room 309: M-F 12:20pm-12:50pm
- Syllabus: See the most up-to-date PDF version.
Summary
In this course, science and non-science majors will learn about our solar system, the birth and death of stars (including our own Sun), the nature of black holes and galaxies, and the structure and evolution of the entire universe. We will discuss what astronomers know today about each of these things, how we know it, and what we still don’t yet know.
There’s a lot more information about this course – including details about the textbook, who should/shouldn’t take this class, how your grade is calculated, and a checklist for success – in the syllabus.
Course Material
The primary “required readings” are in the OpenStax book Astronomy-2e. We will also be using Stellarium, given the difficulty to see the nigth sky in Panama City. Likewise, for a stand-in Planetarium we will be using The World Wide Telescope
Here you will find a detailed step-by-step description of the Final Project assigment. Read carefully.
Here are some additional resources:
- This page contains links to additional resources (including YouTube videos) for extra help on the MATH topics of this course.
- Here is the English transcript of the Radio Ambulante episode Goodbye Pluto
Schedule
Below is a detailed schedule that will list the material covered in each class session, links to electronic copies of any handouts, and Stellarium and World Wide Telescope worksheets, and various course deadlines.
Mon., August 25: Scales of the Universe. What is astronomy all about? (Chp. 1)
Handout: syllabus - Wed., August 27: Scales of the Universe. What is astronomy all about? (Chp. 1) (Slides)
- Mon., September 1 : Humans’ relation to the sky (Chp. 2)
Wed., September 3: Orbits and Gravity (Chp. 3) (Slides)
Homework 1 (Chp. 3-4) assigned, due Wed., September 17. - Mon., September 8: Orbits and Gravity (Chp. 3)
Wed., September 10: Earth, Moon, and Sky (Chp. 4)
Ch. 4 notes and highligths due Stellarium Worksheet 1: Introduction to Stellarium - Mon., September 15: Earth, Moon, and Sky (Chp. 4)
Wed., September 17: Radiation and Spectra (Chp. 5)
Homework 1 due. Homework 2 (Chp. 5-6) assigned, due Wed., October 6. - Mon., September 22: Astronomical Instruments (Chp. 6)
Wed., September 24: Solar System (Chp. 7)
Ch. 7 notes and highligths due Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 1: Introduction to WWT - Mon., September 29: Earth (Chp. 8)
Wed., October 1: Moon and Mercury (Chp. 9)
Ch. 9 notes and highligths due Mon., October 6: Venus and Mars (Chp. 10)
Homework 2 due. Homework 3 (Chp. 8-11 ) assigned, due Wed., October 15 - Wed., October 8: The Giant Planets (Chp. 11)
Mon., October 13: Ring, Moons, and Pluto (Chp. 12)
Ch. 12 notes and highligths due Stellarium Worksheet 2: Retrograde Motion - Wed., October 15: Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites (Chp. 13 & 14)
Mon., October 20: Here comes the Sun (Chp. 15)
Homework 3 due. Homework 4 (Chp. 13-14) assigned, due Wed., November 12 Wed., October 22: The Sun’s power (Chp. 16)
Ch. 16 notes and highligths due - Mon., October 27: Stars (Ch. 18)
- Wed., October 29: Distance Ladder (Ch. 19)
- Mon., November 3: No Class
- Wed., November 5: No Class
- Mon., November 10: No Class
Wed., November 12: Star Formation (Ch. 21)
Homework 4 due. Homework 5 (Chp. 19) assigned, due Wed., November 24 Mon., November 17: The Life of a Star (Ch. 22)
Ch. 22 notes and highligths due Stellarium Worksheet 3: The H-R diagram Wed., November 19: Death of an Star and Black Holes (Ch. 23 & Ch. 24)
Ch. 24 notes and highligths due Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 2: Stellar Remnants Mon., November 24: The Milky Way: not in equilibrium (Ch. 25)
Homework 5 due. Homework 6 (Chp. 26-28 ) assigned, due Wed., December 3 - Wed., November 26: Galaxies I (Ch. 26)
Mon., December 1: Galaxies II (Ch. 28)
Ch. 29 notes and highligths due Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 3: How Hubble discovered the Universe is expanding Wed., December 3: The Big Bang (Ch. 29)
Homework 6 due.
[Final Exam Week: December 8 - 15]