AST1002 (Spring 2026)
Undergraduate course, Florida State University, 2026
Planets, Stars, and Galaxies
- Instructor: Prof. Daniel D. Sega (email)
- Instructor’s Office: 2nd Floor, Faculty Wing
- Course Times: Spring 2026, 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 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.
Wed., January 7: Scales of the Universe. What is astronomy all about? (Chp. 1) (Slides)
Handout: syllabus - Mon., January 12 : Humans’ relation to the sky (Chp. 2)
Wed., January 14: Orbits and Gravity (Chp. 3)
Homework 1 (Chp. 3-4) assigned, due Wed., January 28. - Mon., January 19: Orbits and Gravity (Chp. 3)
Wed., January 21: Earth, Moon, and Sky (Chp. 4)
Ch. 4 notes and highligths due Stellarium Worksheet 1: Introduction to Stellarium - Mon., January 26: Earth, Moon, and Sky (Chp. 4)
Wed., January 28: Radiation and Spectra (Chp. 5)
Homework 1 due. Homework 2 (Chp. 5-6) assigned, due Wed., February 23. - Mon., February 2: Astronomical Instruments (Chp. 6)
Wed., February 4: Solar System (Chp. 7)
Ch. 7 notes and highligths due Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 1: Introduction to WWT - Mon., February 9: Earth (Chp. 8)
Wed., February 11: Moon and Mercury (Chp. 9)
Ch. 9 notes and highligths due - Mon., February 16: No Class
- Wed., February 18: No Class
Mon., February 23: Venus and Mars (Chp. 10)
Ch. 12 notes and highligths due Homework 2 due. Homework 3 (Chp. 8-11 ) assigned, due Wed., March 16 Wed., February 25: The Giant Planets (Chp. 11 & 14)
WWT Worksheet 2 Mon., March 2: Ring, Moons, and Pluto (Chp. 12)
Ch. 12 notes and highligths due Wed., March 4: The Sun’s power (Chp. 16)
Ch. 16 notes and highligths due Mon., March 9: Ring, Moons, and Pluto (Chp. 12)
Ch. 12 notes and highligths due - Wed., March 11: Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites (Chp. 13 & 14)
Mon., March 16: Here comes the Sun (Chp. 15)
Homework 3 due. Homework 4 (Chp. 13-14) assigned, due Wed., March 30 Wed., March 18: The Sun’s power (Chp. 16)
Ch. 16 notes and highligths due - Mon., March 23: Stars (Ch. 18)
- Wed., March 25: Distance Ladder (Ch. 19)
Mon., March 30: Star Formation (Ch. 21)
Homework 4 due. Homework 5 (Chp. 19, 26-28) assigned, due Wed., April 8 Wed., April 1: The Life of a Star (Ch. 22)
Ch. 22 notes and highligths due Stellarium Worksheet 2: The H-R diagram Mon., April 6: Death of an Star and Black Holes (Ch. 23 & Ch. 24)
Ch. 24 notes and highligths due Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 3: Stellar Remnants - Wed., April 8: The Milky Way: not in equilibrium (Ch. 25)
- Mon., April 13: Galaxies I (Ch. 26)
Wed., April 15: Galaxies II (Ch. 28)
Ch. 29 notes and highligths due Worldwide Telescope Worksheet 4: How Hubble discovered the Universe is expanding Mon., April 20: The Big Bang (Ch. 29)
Homework 5 due. - Wed., April 22: The Big Bang (Ch. 29)
[Final Exam Week: April 8 - 15 (for Telescope route) / Final Exam day: Mon April 27 (for Essay route)]