Elementary Astronomy (Astronomy/Physics 1040)

Instructor: Daniel Schroeder, Physics Department, Weber State University

• Syllabus
• Schedule
• List of recommended textbooks
• Understanding Astronomy (free but incomplete online text by your instructor)
• Zoomer Applet (to put things in perspective)
• Sky Motion Applet
• Whole Sky Applet

• Daily reading assignments

• Homework exercises: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

• Observing project instructions

• Overview (28 August 2006) [6.3 MB]
• Rising and Setting Stars (30 August 2006) [1.1. MB]
• Changing Latitudes (1 September 2006) [1.2 MB]
• The Sun and the Seasons (6 September 2006)
• The Moon and Eclipses (8 September 2006)
• Motions of the Planets (11 September 2006)
• The Copernican Revolution (13 September 2006)
• Kepler's Laws (15 September 2006)
• Galileo's Telescope (18 September 2006)
• Newton's Laws of Motion (20 September 2006)
• Universal Gravitation (22 September 2006)
• Energy and Light (25 September 2006)
• Light as a Wave (27 September 2006)
• Spectroscopy and the Doppler Effect (29 September 2006) [2 MB]
• Telescopes (2 October 2006) [2.2 MB]
• Earth as a Planet (4 October 2006) [2.1 MB]
• The Terrestrial Planets (6 October 2006) [4 MB]
• The Jovian Planets (9 October 2006) [2.3 MB]
• Solar System Debris (11 October 2006) [1.4 MB]
• Space Exploration (13 October 2006) [1.4 MB]
• Solar System Formation (16 October 2006) [1.2 MB]
• Our Sun (18 October 2006) [1.8 MB]
• Measuring the Stars (23 October 2006)
• Properties of Stars (25 October 2006)
• Classifying the Stars (27 October 2006) [1.2 MB]
• How the Stars Shine (30 October 2006)
• Nuclear Reactions in Stars (1 November 2006)
• Red Giants and White Dwarfs (3 November 2006) [1.1 MB]
• Supernovae (6 November 2006) [2.3 MB]
• NeutronStars (8 November 2006) [1.5 MB]
• Black Holes (10 November 2006)
• Star Clusters and Nebulae (13 November) [6.3 MB]
• The Milky Way (15 November) [2.7 MB]
• Galaxies (17 November) [3.4 MB]
• The Expanding Universe (20 November) [1.0 MB]
• Quasars and Active Galaxies (22 November) [1.2 MB]
• The Cosmic Background Radiation (27 November)
• The Early Universe (29 November)
• Dark Matter and Dark Energy (4 December) [1.3 MB]
• Life in the Universe (6 December) [3.0 MB]

Additional Resources

To construct your own low-tech planisphere, check out this web site. Here is a very simple set of printable star charts that show the entire sky in just four pages. For more experienced sky observers, here's a complete, free, magnitude-7 star atlas in 20 pages, showing hundreds of clusters and galaxies.

For spectacular time-lapse videos, check out theskyinmotion.com.

Here's a cool interactive simulation of the solar system.

The Newton's Cannon applet shows how orbits work.

Check out the Astronomy Picture of the Day!

Here's a good calendar of astronomical events.

For the latest report on sunspots, aurorae, and other solar-related activity, see www.spaceweather.com.

And just for fun, read the lyrics to Global View. Special offer: Find and document the inconsistency in the numbers given in this song, and win a free Milky Way bar! (Fine print: Documentation must be submitted in writing. The inconsistency is significant, not a mere round-off error in the 10% range. Although you may check the numbers in the song against other sources, your documentation should demonstrate an internal inconsistency, within the song itself.)

Last updated on 20 August 2010.