Astronomy 350 | Fall 2012

Course Schedule 

Note:  The lecture material may vary, but the assignment dates are fixed. Check back to this page for updates on the topics and readings.
All assignments (homework and reports) are due at the beginning of class on Friday.
Date Topic Assignment Due
Mon Aug 27 Introduction  
Wed Aug 29 History of Cosmology  
Fri Aug 31 Kepler and Planetary Orbits  
Mon Sept 3 Labor Day--no class meeting  
Wed Sept 5 Newton's Laws of Motion Discussion Question 1
Fri Sept 7 Newton's Law of Gravity HW 1
Mon Sept 10 Light and Atoms  
Wed Sept 12 Atoms and the Quantum Microworld Discussion Question 2
Fri Sept 14 Elementary Particle Zoology HW 2
Mon Sept 17 Energy  
Wed Sept 19 Stars: Structure and Evolution Discussion Question 3
Fri Sept 21 Stars as Cosmological Tools HW 3
Mon Sept 24 Life Cycles of Stars  
Wed Sept 26 Supernovae and Cosmology  
Fri Sept 28 Hour Exam 1
Mon Oct 1 Our Milky Way Galaxy  
Wed Oct 3 Milky Way Dark Matter Discussion Question 4
Fri Oct 5 Galaxies HW 4
Mon Oct 8 Relativity: Introduction  
Wed Oct 10 Special Relativity: Theory Discussion Question 5
Fri Oct 12 Special Relativity: Tests and Evidence HW 5
Mon Oct 15 The Equivalence Principle  
Wed Oct 17 General Relativity: Tests and Evidence Discussion Question 6
Fri Oct 19 Cosmic Acceleration HW 6
Mon Oct 22 Black Holes  
Wed Oct 24 Large Scale Structure and Hubble's Law Discussion Question 7
Fri Oct 26 Class Cancelled
Mon Oct 29 Lifestyles in an Expanding Universe HW 7 (extended)
Wed Oct 31 Cosmodynamics  
Fri Nov 2 Hour Exam 2
Mon Nov 5 Cosmic Acceleration  
Wed Nov 7 Implications of Cosmic Acceleration Discussion Question 8
Fri Nov 9 Dark Energy HW 8
Mon Nov 12 Weight and Fate  
Wed Nov 14 Cosmic Microwave Background Discussion Question 9
Fri Nov 16 Cosmic Microwave Background HW 9
Nov 19-23 Thanksgiving Break
Mon Nov 26 Primordial Nucleosynthesis  
Wed Nov 28 Primordial Nucleosynthesis Discussion Question 10
Fri Nov 30 Baryogenesis: the Birth of Matter HW 10
Mon Dec 3 Particle Dark Matter  
Wed Dec 5 Inflation Discussion Question 11
Fri Dec 7 Inflation HW 11
Mon Dec 10 Structure Formation  
Wed Dec 12 Structure Formation and Finale  
Fri Dec 14: 8-11am FINAL EXAM
Brian D. Fields
Last modified: Mon Oct 29 09:58:23 CDT 2012