Dr. W.

Pezzaglia
Foothill College

Astronomy 10B, Fall 2007

Lec #1, Star Maps, Constellations, Magnitudes

Page 1
2007Sep25

Astronomy 10B: Stellar System (& Universe)

WHERE: Room 5015
When:
TuTh 8-9:50am, F9-9:50 am
WHO:
"Dr. Bill" Pezzaglia (Pez-al-ya)
http://www.clifford.org/~drbill
EMAIL:
DrBill@Clifford.Org
Phone/Messages: 650-430-0342 (cell)
Office:
4124 (?)
Hours: TuTh 10-11
__________________________________________________________________
TEXTS: Fraknoi,
Voyages to the Stars & Galaxies (3rd ed) [Thomson 2005]
Its also possible to use the bigger book (except page and chapter numbers differ):
Fraknoi,
Voyages Through the Universe (3rd ed) [Thomson 2005]

-----------------------------------------------------------------ATTENDENCE: Showing up at all classes is a college requirement (you can be dropped for missing
4 classes). Roll will be taken and attendance may influence your grade.
Grade Weighting is approximately: Quizzes (20%), Exams (40%), . Comprehensive
GRADES:
Final (30%), Homework-Activities (10%). A "typical" grade distribution for this course would be: A
(20%), B(35%), C(35%), D/F (10%), however this varies pending class performance. From
experience in previous years, if you average below 30% on my exams you may get a D, below 40% is
probably a C, below 50% a B, but this is only approximate.
Your lowest quiz score will be dropped (which allows for one unexcused absence).
EXAMS:
You are required to attend the quizzes, midterms and the final. Make up exams will not be given
except for college accepted reasons (e.g. death in family, documented illness). There will be some
example questions handed out before each exam. Any cheating on exams will automatically result
with a zero score, and result in referral to the student discipline office.
There will be regularly assigned homework problems. Its important for you to
HOMEWORK:
spend some time on them, even if you dont get it all correct. Ill be grading half for effort. While
homework will not count much directly, indirectly people that do the homework do much better on the
exams (by nearly a full grade!). Plagiarism on homework is also considered cheating.
WEB: For this course check: http://www.clifford.org/drbill/foothill/
In particular, download the PowerPoint Slides for the lecture, and other materials.
Possible extra-credit activities: Talk to me individually about possible extra credit activities. If you
are on a A/B grade borderline, it might make the difference! Some possibilities that might occur
during the quarter:
Chabot Observatory (Planetarium + observation)
Public Viewing (Mt Tamalpias, or SF sidewalk astronomers, etc.)
Foothill Observatory/Peninsula Astronomical Society Meeting
Lectures (e.g. Silicon Valley Astronomy Talks at Foothill, n.b. Oct 3)
Planetarium visits (Chabot, Rosecrucian in San Jose [a bit wacky]
Exploratorium visit (emphasis on optical demonstrations) at San Francisco.
PHILOSOPHY: The Lectures, Text and activities problems are intended to supplement and
complement each other. They do not necessarily cover the same ground (e.g. lectures will not
"parrot" the text but rather provide a different perspective). The course is an overview of the entire
structure of the universe, and of the history of mankind's development of scientific thought. Try not to
get so lost in details that you lose the "big picture". Pay attention to note the "outline" format of my
lectures for perspective.
LAB (Astro 10L): Consider taking this course concurrently!
Im teaching the Fri 10-11:50 am section in room 5423.

Dr. W. Pezzaglia
Foothill College

Astronomy 10B, Fall 2007

Lec #1, Star Maps, Constellations, Magnitudes

Page 2
2007Sep25

TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE for Astronomy 10B (TuTh 8-9:50, F9-9:50am)

Week
1

10

11
12

Meeting
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
x
x
26
27
28
29
30
31
[32]

Day
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Fri
Thu

Date
25-Sep
27-Sep
28-Sep
2-Oct
4-Oct
5-Oct
9-Oct
11-Oct
12-Oct
16-Oct
18-Oct
19-Oct
23-Oct
25-Oct
26-Oct
30-Oct
1-Nov
2-Nov
6-Nov
8-Nov
9-Nov
13-Nov
15-Nov
16-Nov
20-Nov
22-Nov
23-Nov
27-Nov
29-Nov
30-Nov
4-Dec
6-Dec
7-Dec
13-Dec

Topic

Reading

Constellations, Star Maps

Ptolemy, Copernicus and Galileo
Tycho and Kepler
Gravity (Newton)
Light: particle or a wave?
Spectra, Atomic Physics
Telescopes
Nuclear Physics and Sun's Energy
Solar Phenomena, Eclipses
Astrophysics: stellar properties

Prologue
Chap 1
Chap 2
Chap 4

Assign

Hmk 1
Hmk 2
Hmk 3
Quiz 1

Chap 5
Chap 6
Chap 7
Chap 8, 9
Exam 1

HR Diagrams
Stellar Medium and Nebulae
Stellar Birth
Stellar Lifetimes and Clusters
Giants and Variables
Planetary Nebulae
Supernova
White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars
General Relativity
Black Holes

Chap 10
Chap 11
Chap 12
Chap 13

Milky Way and Dark Matter

Cosmography
Galaxies and Hubble Classification
Holiday
Holiday
Active Galaxies and Evolution
Newton's Universe
Einstein's Universe, Hubble's Law
Dark Energy and CBR
Cosmogony, the Big Bang
Life in the Universe
Final Exam 7:30-9:30 am

Chap 16

Quiz 2
Chap 14

Chap 15
Exam 2

Chap 17

Chap 18, 19
Quiz 3
Chap 17
Chap 20
Chap 21

**Fraknoi, Voyages to the Stars & Galaxies (3rd ed) [Thomson]

* Exam schedule is approximate

Download from Web Site http://www.clifford.org/drbill/foothill/

FINAL