| Week 1 - Introductions |
| 8/25 | Introductions, Diagnostic Exam, Tour of Universe, Office Hours |
| 8/27 | Discussion of Syllabus, Day-to-day class structure |
| 8/29 | Watch Cosmic Voyage |
| AN: Math Review, Section 3, Chapter 1, all sections |
| WA: Scientific notation, Names of large numbers |
| LT: Sun size (105-107), Milky Way Scales (123-125) |
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| Week 2 - Patterns in the Sky |
| 9/1 | Labor Day - No Class |
| 9/3 | AN: Chapter 3, all sections EXCEPT Angles, Coordinates, Planetary Motions |
| WA: Celestial sphere, Circumpolar star |
| 9/5 | LT: Position, Motion, Seasonal Stars |
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| Week 3 - Patterns in the Sky |
| 9/8 | LT: Seasonal Stars |
| 9/10 | WA: Sidereal day ("Sidereal time and solar time" section only) |
| LT: Solar vs. Sidereal Day |
| 9/12 | LT: Ecliptic |
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| Week 4 - Patterns in the Sky |
| 9/15 | WA: Moon phases |
| LT: The Cause of Moon Phases, Predicting Moon Phases |
| 9/17 | LT: Path of the Sun |
| 9/19 | WA: Seasons |
| LT: Seasons |
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| Week 5 - Gravity |
| 9/22 | AN: Chapter 4, section on Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion |
| LT: Kepler's Second Law |
| 9/24 | Kepler's Third Law |
| 9/26 | Chapter 5, all sections, (Chapter 6, all sections) |
| LT: Newton's Laws and Gravity |
| Gravity from Black Holes, a discussion by Dr. Phil Plait
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| Week 6 - Midterm, Nature of Light |
| 9/29 | Review Session |
| 10/1 | Midterm Exam 1 - Scales, Patterns in the Sky, Gravity |
| 10/3 | AN: Chapter 11, section 4 only |
| WA: Magnitude (astronomy), Apparent magnitude, Absolute magnitude (Introduction and prologue to Stars and Galaxies sections only) |
| LT: Apparent and Absolute Magnitudes of Stars |
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| Week 7 - Nature of Light |
| 10/6 | AN: Chapter 7, sections 1-3 |
| LT: Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum of Light |
| 10/8 | AN: Chapter 7, section 4 |
| LT: Blackbody Radiation | |
| 10/10 | AN: Chapter 7, sections 7-10 |
| LT: Types of Spectra |
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| Week 8 - Nature of Light, Evolution and Structure of the Solar System |
| 10/13 | LT: Doppler Shift |
| 10/15 | AN: Chapter 1, Section 15 (Planetary Motions) |
| LT: Observing Retrograde Motion |
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| Week 9 - Evolution and Structure of the Solar System |
| 10/20 | WA: Solar system, Solar System Portal |
| LT: Temperature and Formation of Our Solar System |
| 10/22 | WA: Extrasolar Planets (esp. Detection Methods section) |
| LT: Motion of Extrasolar Planets |
| 10/24 | AN: Chapter 9, sections 1-12 |
| Watch The Great Planet Debate with Dr. Mark Sykes and Dr. Niel Degrasse Tyson, moderated by Ira Flato |
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| Week 10 - Exam, Stars |
| 10/27 | Review Session |
| 10/29 | Midterm Exam 2 - Nature of Light, Solar System |
| 10/31 | AN: Chapter 11, sections 12-15 |
| LT: H-R Diagram |
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| Week 11 - Stellar Evolution, Evolution of the Universe |
| 11/3 | AN: Chapter 13, sections 1-9 |
| LT: Star Formation and Lifetimes |
| 11/5 | AN: Chapter 13, all sections 10-14 |
| LT: Stellar Evolution |
| 11/7 | AN: Chapter 11, sections 10-11 |
| LT: Binary Stars |
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| Week 12 - Evolution of the Universe |
| 11/10 | AN: Chapter 11, sections 2 and 3
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| LT: Parallax and Distance, Spectroscopic Parallax |
| 11/12 | AN: Chapter 15, sections 1-11 |
| LT: Galaxy Classification |
| 11/14 | AN: Chapter 15, section 16 |
| LT: Looking at Distant Objects |
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| Week 13 |
| 11/17 | Chapter 16, sections 1-4 |
| LT: Expansion of the Universe |
| 11/19 | Review Session |
| 11/21 | Midterm Exam 3 - Stars, Stellar Evolution, Evolution of the Universe |
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| Week 14 |
| Thanksgiving Week - No Class, Only Monday Lab meets |
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| Week 15 |
| 12/1 | TBD |
| 12/3 | Science Conference |
| 12/5 | TBD |
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| 12/12 | FINAL EXAM: 10:15AM-12:15PM |