AST1002 (Spring 2025)

Planets, Stars, and Galaxies

• Instructor: Prof. Daniel D. Sega (email)
• Instructor’s Office: 2nd Floor, Faculty Wing
• Course Times: Spring 2025, Mon./Wed. 1:00-2:15pm
• Location: Room 205
• Office Hours: 2nd Floor Faculty Wing or Room 309: M-F 12:15pm-12:45pm
• 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., January 6: Scales of the Universe. What is astronomy all about? (Chp. 1) | Slides

  Handout: syllabus

• Wed., January 8: Scales of the Universe. What is astronomy all about? (Chp. 1) | Slides
• Mon., January 13: Humans’ relation to the sky (Chp. 2) | Slides

• Wed., January 15: Orbits and Gravity (Chp. 3) | Slides

  Homework 1 (Chp. 3-4) assigned, due Wed., January 29.

• Mon., January 20: Orbits and Gravity (Chp. 3) | Slides

• Wed., January 22: Earth, Moon, and Sky (Chp. 4) | Slides

  Ch. 4 notes and highligths due

  Stellarium Worksheet 1: Introduction to Stellarium

• Mon., January 27: Earth, Moon, and Sky (Chp. 4)

• Wed., January 29: Radiation and Spectra (Chp. 5)

  Homework 1 due.

  Homework 2 (Chp. 5-6) assigned, due Wed., February 17.

• Mon., February 3: Astronomical Instruments (Chp. 6)

• Wed., February 5: Solar System (Chp. 7)

  Ch. 7 notes and highligths due

  Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 1: Introduction to WWT

• Mon., February 10: Earth (Chp. 8)

• Wed., February 12: Moon and Mercury (Chp. 9)

  Ch. 9 notes and highligths due

  Stellarium Worksheet 2: Retrograde Motion

• Mon., February 17: Venus and Mars (Chp. 10)

  Homework 2 due.

  Homework 3 (Chp. 8-11 ) assigned, due Wed., February 26

• Wed., February 19: The Giant Planets (Chp. 11)

• Mon., February 24: Ring, Moons, and Pluto (Chp. 12)

  Ch. 12 notes and highligths due

• Wed., February 26: Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites (Chp. 13 & 14)

  Homework 3 due.

  Homework 4 (Chp. 13-14) assigned, due Wed., March 12

[March 3-7: Spring Break, no classes.]

• Mon., March 10: Here comes the Sun (Chp. 15)

• Wed., March 12: The Sun has all the power (Chp. 16)

  Ch. 16 notes and highligths due

  Homework 4 due.

  Homework 5 (Chp. 15-18,20-22 ) assigned, due Mon., March 24

• Mon., March 17: Stars (Ch. 18)
• Wed., March 19: Distance Ladder (Ch. 19)

• Mon., March 24: Gas, and Dust (Ch. 20)

  Homework 5 due.

  Homework 6 (Chp. 19) assigned, due Wed., April 14

• Wed., March 26: Star Formation (Ch. 21)

• Mon., March 31: The Life of a Star (Ch. 22)

  Ch. 22 notes and highligths due

  Stellarium Worksheet 3: The H-R diagram

• Wed., April 2: The Death of a Star (Ch. 23)

• Mon., April 7: The Death of a Star (Ch. 23)

• Wed., April 9: Black Holes (Ch. 24)

  Ch. 24 notes and highligths due

  Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 2: Stellar Remnants

• Mon., April 14: The Milky Way: not in equilibrium (Ch. 25)

  Homework 6 due.

  Homework 7 (Chp. 26-28 ) assigned, due Wed., April 23

• Wed., April 16: Galaxies I (Ch. 26)

• Mon., April 21: Galaxies II (Ch. 28)

  Ch. 29 notes and highligths due

  Homework 7 due.

  Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 3: How Hubble discovered the Universe is expanding

• Wed., April 23: The Big Bang (Ch. 29)
• Thur., April 24: Final Exam at the multipurpose court, 6:30 post meridian 🕡

[Final Exam Week: April 28–May 2.]