Instructor: Dr.
Ringwald E-mail: ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @
|
Phone: 278-8426 |
You don't need an appointment to come in during office hours. This
is time set aside for you, when I will be in.
Please feel free to contact me, if you have any problems whatsoever in this course, or if you're doing well and just want to talk about the wonders and mysteries of the Universe. It's in my interest, and I care, that you do well!
Class objectives:
(1) To serve that most essential purpose of a good education: to
deprovincialize you, by showing what lies beyond the horizon, in space and
in time.
(2) To encourage a sense of awe, wonder, and curiosity about the Universe,
to foster an appreciation for the beauty of physical law. If you have
no other adventures in your life, then this will be it!
(3) To promote student understanding of scientific method, emphasizing how
we know what we know, and what we don't know.
(4) To practice critical thinking and reasoning skills, useful both in and
outside of science.
(5) To provide experience with quantitative reasoning and graphics, again
useful both in and outside of science.
Lecture meeting times and location:
Schedule 27952 (Section 03): MWF 12-12:50 p.m., McLane 162.
Students are also required to register separately for labs: see
below.
Astronomy labs start on the third week of classes: September
10-12.
Holidays: September 3 (Labor Day), November 21-23
(Thanksgiving)
Required Course Texts:
Required Course Equipment:
(1) A looseleaf binder, for your Class Notes; (2) a clear plastic ruler;
(3) a flashlight (preferably with a red filter, for night vision); (4) a
scientific calculator (that has scientific notation, and can calculate
logarithmic and exponential functions)
Course web page:
http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/psci21.html. Better bookmark
this one! We'll use it often.
The textbook's web page is at:
http://www.jbpub.com/StarLinks/home.htm . It includes links,
questions, updates, and animations.
Course grades will be assigned for the following final
percentages:
85-100% = A; 70-84% = B; 55-69% = C; 40-54% = D; 0-39% = F.
TENTATIVE Class Schedule (updated 2001 October 29).
Always do the readings before class:
Please note:
Lab Safety: These astronomy lab sessions take place after dark.
If safety becomes a concern, the Campus Police provide an escort program.
Radio-equipped, uniformed, trained escort officers will accompany persons
to their destinations on campus during hours of darkness. Call
278-2132, or pick up an emergency phone to request an escort
officer. Be sure to check their badges, before going anywhere with them.
The Campus Police also provide car battery assistance and other services.
They can be reached in an emergency by calling 911.
Lab requirements: A flashlight will be required for map reading at
observing sessions. Flashlights with red filters are recommended, being
superior for night vision. A scientific calculator and a clear plastic
ruler will be required as well. In addition to the activities in the lab
manual, students will become familiar with the constellations, asterisms,
and bright stars. We will also learn how to use a telescope to view the
Moon, the planets, star clusters, gaseous nebulae, and galaxies. I expect
that, by the end of the course, you will be able to locate even faint,
hard-to-find objects, using the telescopes while working from your maps.
Field trips: Up to three times this semester, we will be observing
off-campus, at a dark-sky site a half-hour drive from campus called the
Range. For these lab sessions, we start at 7:00 p.m., so plan your
schedule accordingly!
The dates of the field trips are on the following lab schedule. These
dates are subject to change due to poor weather. Please check with
Dr. Ringwald's web page (
http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/psci21.html) or voicemail
(278-8426) after 4:00 p.m. on the days of the labs, for any last-minute
changes due to poor weather.
We do not cancel labs for poor weather. If the weather is bad, we will
meet in the regular classrooms (McLane 258 and 264) at the regular times
(5:30 and 7:30 p.m.).
If you miss a lab, then you will receive a zero for that lab. There
will be no make-up labs without an excused absence for a compelling reason
(e.g. job interview, illness documented by a doctor's note). Any
student with three or more unexcused absences from lab will receive an F
in the course. Astronomy labs start on the third week of classes:
September 10-12.
TENTATIVE Lab Schedule (updated 2001 September 2). Always read the
lab description (in the blue PSci 21 Laboratory Manual) before lab. There
will usually be a quiz, covering last week's and this week's lab, except
for Range labs.
Don't miss class. Listening to lectures and participating in
discussions are much more effective than reading someone else's
class notes. Active participation is even better: it will help you
retain what you are learning.
Sorry, but I cannot give make-ups for mid-term exams, nor can I
give exams in advance. These classes are far too large for it. Even
with smaller classes, I can never be sure that a makeup was really fair,
since it must be different from the regular exam. If you must miss a
mid-term exam for a compelling reason (e.g. job interview or illness
documented by a doctor's note), I will void the part of the course grade
that mid-term would have counted and count the rest of the grade as 100%.
If for any reason a student leaves the classroom while an exam is being
given, the student may not re-enter the classroom as long as that exam is
still taking place. The student's leaving the exam will be taken to
signify that the student has finished that exam. This includes trips to
the bathroom, so plan ahead.
All students are required to remove hats during all exams, because they
have in the past been used to aid cheating. Students may not use
calculators, pagers, or cell phone that can communicate outside the
classroom during exams. Any students found attempting to do so will get an
F in the entire course, because that constitutes cheating.
I will therefore assign a paper, over 1200 words long, due on the
last day of instruction. Since I take this so seriously, I personally
read and grade every one, so make them good!
Twelve hundred words isn't much. I want these papers to be
well-thought-out, polished, beautiful little gems, not big loads of ore.
It will help to focus on a specific topic. A 1200-word paper titled
"Stars" can't be very good; stars are complex, and whole books have been
written about them. A 1200-word paper on star formation would be a little
better, but still, star formation is a vast topic in itself. More like it
would be a 1200-word paper on the youngest protostars (also called Class
0).
As another example, a 1200-word paper on "Black Holes" is unlikely to be
anything but superficial: whole books have been published on black holes.
Pick one black hole, such as the one in V404 Cygni or M87; or pick some
aspect of black holes, such as why we think they exist, or how they can
evaporate, or how they might be gateways to other Universes.
As yet another example, a 1200-word paper on the Sun would not do our
magnificent star justice. A 1200-word paper on the solar neutrino problem
probably wouldn't work, either. What might work would be a 1200-word
paper on the recent discovery of neutrino mass with the Super-Kamiokande
detector, and its implications for the solar neutrino problem, or on just
one of the many amazing observational results from the SOHO spacecraft, such as the
discoveries of how the corona is heated, flare-induced Sun-quakes, or
rivers or tornados on the Sun: no kidding!
For ideas, see the text, including chapters we haven't yet read, as well
as current and back issues of reputable popular magazines such as Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, Mercury, Scientific American, and New Scientist. Articles in
these magazines are what your papers should be like.
Feel free to use the World Wide Web for research, too, but be careful of
what you use, since there's a great deal of rubbish on the web. When
using the web for research, be sure as always to reference your sources,
by listing their web addresses, also called URLs. Because everything on
the web is subject to change without notice, it is also essential to list
the date that appears on the page to indicate when it was last updated, as
in the above example. If no such date appears on the page, list the
version number appearing on the page. If there is no version number, then
list the date you consulted the page.
Having something to say in your paper is essential. How you write it is
also important: good content is so much better if it's written in a
way that's clear and easy to understand. For hints on writing, see The
Elements of Style, by W. B. Strunk and E. B. White. This little book
can be ordered from the campus bookstore for $6.95. There is now an online version, too.
Read it from cover to cover twice a year, for life!
These papers may be on any topic in contemporary or historical astronomy,
space exploration, or related sciences. A typed (or computer printed)
paper title and short summary (between 100 and 250 words) is due on
Monday, November 19. You're allowed to change your topic after this if
you discover something better: this is something I like particularly about
science. A list of example paper topics should be attached to the printed
copies of this syllabus. It is available online at
http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/psci21.paper.topics
Papers must be typed (or computer printed), on standard 8.5-inch x 11-inch
paper with standard, one-inch margins. Use a readable 12-point serif font
such as Times or Computer Modern Romannot Chicago, Helvetica, Monaco,
or Geneva, which are sans serif and hard to read in large doses.
These papers must provide a list of references, or works cited. Not doing
so can turn an "A" paper into a "B" paper. There must be at least five
references. No more than two of these five can web addresses. You may
use more references than this required minimum: indeed, if you want an A,
you should have substantially more, which are read carefully and cited in
the text.
Here are some useful ways to list references:
For a journal article:
Ringwald, F. A., & Naylor, T. 1998, The Astronomical Journal, volume 115,
pp. 286-295,
For a magazine article:
Ringwald, F. 2000, Astronomy, vol. 28, No. 6, p. 48 (June issue),
For a book chapter:
Ringwald, F. A. 1998, in the Third Conference on Faint Blue Stars, edited
by A. G. Davis Philip, J. W. Liebert, R. A. Saffer, and D. S. Hayes
(Schenectady, New York: L. Davis Press), p. 425,
For a book:
Warner, B. 1995, Cataclysmic Variable Stars (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Press), p. 221 (Don't forget to include the specific page that contains the
information you used. It's too much to expect your reader to wade through
the entire book to find what you mean.)
For a web page:
Ringwald, F. A., 1998,
http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/comp2.3lis
Knowing how the references were used is also important. You should
therefore cite references in the text, especially when making statements
of fact that aren't well-known or immediately obvious. Give the author's
name and the year of publication, so your reader can easily match up the
statements with the references. Here are three different examples of how
to cite references in the text:
Here, Smith (1993) and Horne (1994) were journal articles, but Warner
(1995) was a book. Note that with the case of Horne (1994), one can put
the author's name into the sentence, useful for emphasizing that Horne did
this work.
You need not use this exact format for citing references, but do use a
format precise enough so that I can look the references up myself. I get
frustrated whenever a student writes something interesting, but gives a
reference that's so imprecise, I can't find out more about it!
Here are some other tips on writing:
I will admit that, to enliven my lectures, I sometimes do inject opinions
and value judgementssuch as my opinion that total solar eclipses are
amazing phenomena that everyone should see, at least once. There is a big
difference between spoken and written communication, however. Avoid
imitating this when you write: stick to the facts.
This error may be common, but it drives me wild, and can be bad for your
grade.
This is how I grade papers:
However, if you do collaborate, it must be genuine collaboration:
not one person doing all the work, and the others blindly copying.
That's cheating! Therefore, while you may work together, write up the
results separately, in your own words. A dead giveaway is when I get
two papers that are exactly the same. Do people think I don't notice it?
Modifying someone else's paper slightly, or changing the words around, or
stringing someone else's paragraphs together, even if they're cited, is no
better: none of these dubious practices make it your paper. For
information on the University's policy regarding cheating and plagiarism,
refer to the Schedule of Courses (Legal Notices on Cheating and
Plagiarism) or the University Catalog (Policies and Regulations).
To prevent plagiarism, two copies of both the paper titles
and summaries and the papers themselves are due, on the appropriate dates
(November 19 for the titles and summaries, and December 12 for the
papers). I must have two copies, or the paper (or summary) gets an
F. I will keep one of the copies of these papers and summaries on
file, for life. If I find a plagiarized paper, the student will
receive an F for the entire course. I may also send the plagiarized
paper to the Dean and other university authorities (e.g. coaches) and
recommend the student be expelled from the Universityor the degree be
revoked, if I don't find it until 25 years from now. Do NOT
plagiarize!
Go to Dr.
Ringwald's home page
Last updated 2001 November 27. Web page by Dr. Ringwald
(ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
(1) In Quest of the Universe (3rd edition), by Karl F. Kuhn and Theo
Koupelis (2001),
(2) The Stars, A New Way to See Them, by H. A. Rey
(3) The blue PSci 21 Lab Manual, by Prof. S. White and Dr. F. Ringwald
(4) PSci 21 Class Notes, by Dr. F. A. Ringwald
All should be available at the campus Bookstore, in the University Student
Union building.
These percentages will be computed with the following weights:
5%
5%
5%
[1] The number line of the Cosmic
Calendar, due Friday, September 21,
[2] Constellation Study Sheet, due Friday, November 2,
[3] The Paper Titles and 100-to-250-word Summaries (see
instructions below),
two
copies of which are due Monday, November 19.
15%
the lower of which will be dropped,
tentatively
scheduled for Friday, September 28 and Friday, November 9.
20%
separately from this lecture section.
20%
two copies of which are due
Wednesday, December 12, the last day of instruction for this class.
30%
which will be comprehensive (covering all material in the entire
course),
on Wednesday, December 19, 1:15-3:15 p.m. in the
regular classroom (McLane 162).
Week
M
W
F
Read by Monday of next week
1
8/27: Introduction & class syllabus
8/29: Powers of Ten, Scientific Notation, Metric System (Kuhn
Prologue)
8/31: Units Conversions, The Light-Year, Look-Back Time (Kuhn
Prologue)
Kuhn Prologue (pp. 2-13), and this entire syllabus.
2
9/03: Holiday
9/05: A Brief Tour of Space and Time, your "Ultimate Address" (Kuhn
Prologue); also Amateurs in astronomy (Class Notes
)
9/07: The Cosmic Calendar (Kuhn Prologue & Class Notes)
Kuhn 1-1 and Rey, pp. 9-35, 66-72, & 108-117
3
9/10: The Cosmic Calendar, part 2 (Class Notes)
9/12: Classical astronomy: Celestial Sphere, Constellations, Angles,
Altazimuth Coordinates (Kuhn 1-1 & Rey)
9/14: Circumpolar Stars & Equatorial Coordinates (Kuhn 1-1 & Rey)
Kuhn 1 & 2 and Rey, pp. 118-121, 127-135
4
9/17: The Ecliptic, the Zodiac, & Seasons; Video, "A Private
Universe" (Kuhn 1 & Rey)
9/19: Scientific Method (Kuhn P-1, 1-3, 1-4, & Class
Notes)
9/21: Motion, from Copernicus to Galileo (Kuhn 2 & Class Notes);
Homework 1 due (Cosmic Calendar number line)
Kuhn 3; Re-read the Class Notes, Lab I, Rey's book, and Kuhn,
Prologue and Chapters 1-2
5
9/24: Motion, from Galileo to Newton (Kuhn 3 & Class
Notes)
9/26: Review
9/28: Mid-Term Exam 1, covering the Class Notes, Lab I, Rey's
book, and Kuhn, Prologue and Chapters 1 to 3
Kuhn 4
6
10/01: More on motion and physics (Kuhn 3)
10/03: Matter, energy, & atoms (Kuhn 4-1, 4-6)
10/05: Light (Kuhn 4)
Kuhn 5
7
10/08: Spectra (Kuhn 4)
10/10: The e/m spectrum (Kuhn 4)
10/12: The e/m spectrum (Kuhn 4)
Kuhn 7 and the Orion Catalog (pp. 8-9, 39 [right], 59, and 87 [top])
8
10/15: Video, ``Infrared: More Than Meets the Eye''; Spectra
(Thermal radiation) (Kuhn 4)
10/17: Spectra (The Doppler effect) (Kuhn 4)
Notes, & the Orion Catalog)
10/19: Telescopes (Kuhn 5 and Class Notes)
Kuhn 6 and Rey, pp. 136-138
Week
M
W
F
Read by Monday of next week
9
10/22: Telescopes (Kuhn 5)
10/24: Small Telescopes (Kuhn 5, Class
Notes, & the Orion Catalog)
10/26: The Solar System (Kuhn 7)
Kuhn 8 & 9
10
10/29: Extra-solar planets (Kuhn 7-7)
10/31: Planet Earth (Kuhn 6-5)
11/02: Moon phases & eclipses (Kuhn 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, and Rey,
pp.136-138); Homework 2 due
(Constellation Study Sheet)
Kuhn 10; Re-read Kuhn Chapters 3 to 7, the Orion catalog, and pp.
72-89 from the Class Notes.
11
11/05: The Earth's Moon (Kuhn 6)
11/07: Review
11/09: Mid-term Exam 2, covering Kuhn
Chapters 3 to 7, the assigned pages from the Orion catalog, and pages
72-89 of the Class Notes.
Kuhn 9, 10, & 11
12
11/12: Mars, Venus, Mercury (Kuhn 8)
11/14: The Outer Solar System (Kuhn 9)
11/16: Small Bodies (Kuhn 10)
Kuhn 12
13
11/19: The Sun (Kuhn 11 and Class Notes;
paper titles and summaries due (see
instructions below)
11/21: Holiday
11/23: Holiday
Kuhn 13, 14, & 15
14
11/26: The Sun and nuclear physics (Kuhn 11 & Class Notes); Stars (Kuhn 12 & Class Notes)
11/28: Stars (Kuhn 12 & Class Notes)
11/30: Interstellar Matter and Star Formation (Kuhn 13 & Class Notes)
Kuhn 16, 17, & 18
15
12/03: White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars (Kuhn 14 and 15 and Class Notes)
12/05: Black Holes and Relativity (Kuhn 15 and Class Notes)
12/07: The Milky Way (Kuhn 16); Galaxies and Hubble's Law (Kuhn 17);
Cosmology (Kuhn 18 and Class Notes)
Kuhn 19; also start re-reading the Class Notes, Kuhn (Prologue and
Chapters 1 to 18), all assigned parts of Rey's book, the Orion catalog,
and all labs, especially The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (X).
16
12/10: Life in the Universe (Kuhn 19 and Class Notes)
12/12: Review; Class Notes on The Most Influential Scientific Findings of All
Time; paper due (see
instructions below)
-
Re-read the Class Notes, Kuhn (Prologue and Chapters 1 to 19), all
assigned parts of Rey's book, the Orion catalog, and all labs, especially
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (X).
Week
M
W
F
Read by Monday of next week
Schedule #
Instructor
Day
Time
Place
27963
Harrison
Monday
5:30-7:20 p.m.
McLane 258
27974
Locke
Monday
5:30-7:20 p.m.
McLane 264
27985
Harrison
Monday
7:30-9:20 p.m.
McLane 258
27996
Locke
Monday
7:30-9:20 p.m.
McLane 264
28000
Harrison
Tuesday
5:30-7:20 p.m.
McLane 258
28011
Locke
Tuesday
5:30-7:20 p.m.
McLane 264
28022
Harrison
Tuesday
7:30-9:20 p.m.
McLane 258
28033
Ringwald
Tuesday
7:30-9:20 p.m.
McLane 264
28044
Locke
Wednesday
5:30-7:20 p.m.
McLane 258
Week
Dates
Moon
Lab
1
8/27-29
FQ 25
No Lab
2
9/3-5
Full 2
No Lab (holiday)
3
9/10-12
LQ 10
Star Names, Maps, and Constellations (I):
Meet in the regular classrooms. Bring flashlights!
4
9/17-19
New 17
Meet at the Range, at 7 p.m.
In case of poor weather:
Meet in the regular classrooms, and do:
The Mystery Constellations [II].
5
9/24-26
FQ 24
The Mystery Constellations [II]:
Meet in the regular classrooms.
If the Mystery Constellations lab was done last week, do:
How
Many Stars are in the Milky Way? (III)
6
10/1-3
Full 2
Introduction to Telescopes (IV):
Meet in the regular classrooms.
Use the Moon and the water tower as targets.
In case of poor weather:
No problem, this lab can be done indoors (look out the windows).
7
10/8-10
LQ 10
Meet at the Range, at 7 p.m.
In case of poor weather: Meet in the regular classrooms.
Ms. Harrison's sections: Micrometeorites (VIII)
Mr. Locke's sections: Spectroscopy: Fingerprinting the Elements
(V)
Dr. Ringwald's sections: Spectroscopy: Fingerprinting the Elements
(V)
8
10/15-17
New 16
Ms. Harrison's sections: Micrometeorites (VIII)
Mr. Locke's sections: Spectroscopy: Fingerprinting the
Elements (V)
Dr. Ringwald's sections: Spectroscopy: Fingerprinting the Elements
(V)
(or Range, if the previous week had poor weather)
Week
Dates
Moon
Lab
Week
Dates
Moon
Lab
9
10/22-24
FQ 24
The Basics of Optics and Telescopes (VI)
(meet in the regular classrooms)
10
10/29-31
Full 1
Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter (VII)
(meet in the regular classrooms)
11
11/5-7
LQ 8
Meet at the Range, at 7 p.m.
In case of poor weather: Meet in the regular classrooms.
Ms. Harrison's sections: Spectroscopy: Fingerprinting the Elements
(V).
Mr. Locke's sections: Micrometeorites (VIII)
Dr. Ringwald's sections: Micrometeorites (VIII)
12
11/12-14
New 15
Ms. Harrison's sections: Spectroscopy: Fingerprinting the Elements
(V)
Mr. Locke's sections: Micrometeorites (VIII)
Dr. Ringwald's sections: Micrometeorites (VIII)
(or Range, if the previous week had poor weather)
13
11/19-21
FQ 22
No lab (holiday)
14
11/26-28
Full 30
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (IX)
(meet in the regular classrooms)
15
12/3-5
LQ 7
Galaxy Classification (X)
(meet in the regular classrooms)
16
12/10-12
New 14
Lab Final and planetarium show
(but meet first in the regular classrooms)
Week
Dates
Moon
Lab
All students are required to attend all class sessions. All
students are also expected to arrive for class on time, and to
attend to the end of all class sessions. Doing otherwise is
disruptive, in large classes like this. Please check your schedule and
work out problems at the beginning of the semester. If you must miss a
lecture for a compelling reason (e.g. job interview or illness documented
by a doctor's note), it is your responsibility to get the notes from
another student. It is also your responsibility to check on announcements
made while you were absent. To do this, check the notes taken by another
student: I may or may not remember everything offhand.
"High-Speed Spectroscopy of a Cataclysmic Variable Wind: BZ
Camelopardalis"
"The Sky Down Under"
"PG 1002+506: a Be Star at Z = +16 kpc"
"Composite-Spectrum and Related Stars That Are Candidate
Detached Post-Common-Envelope Binaries, v. 2.3" (March 29)
"Although doubt had been expressed in the past about whether this approach
was feasible (e.g., Smith 1993), the problem was solved by Horne (1994),
and described in detail by Warner (1995, p. 221)."
(It is not called a "spell check," it's a spelling
check. I don't know what a "spell check" is: it sounds to me like software
used by witches, to make sure they've cast the correct spells.)
Go to Dr.
Ringwald's PSci 21 (Elementary Astronomy) home page,
Department of Physics,
California State University, Fresno