Although Immanuel Kant proposed the existence of galaxies more than two hundred years ago, most of what we know about the galaxies has been learned in recent decades. Driving this sudden explosion of knowledge are the new technologies of radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray astronomy. The course explores the methods of contemporary astronomical research as they have been applied to the modern discovery of the galaxies and the scale of the universe.
The emphasis throughout is on the development of basic principles, the nature of observational science, and the reliability of scientific data and conclusions. Hence the exploration of the universe is used as a means to develop a scientific view of the cosmos, and not just as an end in itself- though that end is also important. Most of you will probably not pursue careers in science, let alone ASTRONOMY, but hopefully after this course you will never look up at the sky in quite the same way....
The emphasis in most of the laboratories is on the basic principles and technology of "remote sensing" - figuring out what something is like without touching it - or on producing simplified "models" of how things might be, as these are fundamental to astronomical exploration.
text THE COSMIC PERSPECTIVE, by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit; Addison-Wesley Longman, 1999. We will "work our way" through most of the book, except for Part III, "Learning from Other Worlds". There will be a schedule of assignments to be read before each class meeting. Keep up! The book requires careful chewing and digesting- you cannot expect to read it all at one sitting! There is one copy on reserve in the library.
classroom activities The class meetings will be used for questioning, lecture, demonstration, and discussion of the topics above.
labs Labs will meet weekly for 80 minutes. Each lab will involve a brief "writeup" due at a designated time, often at the end of the period or at the next class meeting.
homework A homework problem will be distributed each week and due the following week. The primary purpose of these is to give practice with techniques demonstrated in class but not used in the labs.
observations It is expected that many clear evenings a telescope observing program will be held. Each student will be expected to attend several times during the semester. In addition, you are expected to observe the sky regularly throughout the semester and keep a journal showing how the sky changes with time through a single night, and from week to week through the semester, and the conclusions you draw from these observations. Occasional planetary observations made through a telescope should also be noted in your journal. See the Observing and Journal-Keeping page for more information.
constellations While the main emphasis throughout the course is on understanding the general principles and being able to apply them to a situation you have never seen before in another part of the universe (literally!), a minimum basic knowledge of the location of major constellations and other features of the sky will provide you with a "road map" and will ease our conversation immensely- so I will give you a list of a few dozen places whose locations I will expect you to remember. This will be a free bonus if you keep your map of the sky by the bathroom mirror.... See the Constellations page for more information.
exams There will be three in-class exams and a final. In general, anything from the labs, homework, class activities, or your own observations is "fair game", although you should not expect many "plug in" problems. The best way to do well on the exams is to participate in all class activities and THINK. We have a good and provocative text- I strongly encourage you to THINK in class and not attempt to write down every word said by me or anyone else. If you don't leave class in a sweat, you have not been thinking hard enough!!!
The in-class exams will be September 26, October 17, and November 9, 2000.
There will be a separate "constellations" exam which you will be free to take over and over as many times as you like and only the best score will count.
Grading in the course will be according to the following percentages, unless in some specific case this for some reason seems unfair:
3 exams at 15% each = 45%
Final 20%
Labs 20%
Homework 5%
Observing Journal 5%
Constellations 5%
I EXPECT YOU TO COME TO CLASS! I will be showing pictures and videos not in the text, doing demonstrations with apparatus, providing alternate approaches to some important things in the text, filling in mathematical details in places where the text is brief, and prodding you into thinking on your own. I will also pass out all kinds of supplementary stuff. You will miss all of this if you sit home and try to read the book alone, and I will have little mercy for you. If you feel that the class meetings are not as useful as you would like, please TELL ME! I am always open to changing and want you to get all that you can out of the experience. In general, for our three class hours a week, I think you should either be in class or in the health center.
For any lab where you do not show up at all, you will receive a negative score, so that if you do the next lab perfectly the two will add up to zero.
Homework handed in late will be corrected but not scored. The observing journals will be collected and reviewed occasionally during the semester.
These statements might sound a little harsh, but this is a very large class with many components. There simply is not time to create a separate and different schedule for each person.
This class is something like a "top-down" engineering project, in which the project we are working on is quite complex, and must frequently be broken down into smaller pieces. From time to time a few of those "pieces" might seem to involve things you do not know- some mathematical skill, or some piece of information that your neighbor thinks is "obvious" but you have never heard of before. RELAX! That is a perfectly normal feeling, and one that people working on hard problems have all the time. The point is that you use the problem at hand as an excuse to learn the things you need to know to solve it! You should not expect that you already know all that you need to know to read our text without looking something up in another book now and then. Most of the problems of life are like that. If you can use this course as a way to boost your confidence in tackling really large problems where you have to learn other things along the way, then you will take something really wonderful away from it. Don't say "I can't do that because I haven't had _____." Rather, say "Before I can do that I need to learn _____," and go do it!
Like most courses at Bates, I do not think that you can sign up for this one and "accidentally" have a great experience. I think you have to WANT to try everything. If you do that, you will find me eager to help you at all hours to make this a wonderful experience and adventure.
You are encouraged to discuss ANYTHING related to the course or your peripheral interests with the me at any time. Besides extensive office hours and appointment opportunities, you will probably find me around most evenings and are welcome to drop in any time the light is on. You are also welcome to call me at home any time you think I might be there.
Gene Clough
Carnegie 202
786-6388 office
783-2453 home
gclough@bates.edu