ASTR 1040 - General Astronomy 2

Credit Hours: 2.00

Objectives:

1. Identify the physical laws, models, and theories that are applicable to astronomical objects and phenomena.
2. Describe physical laws, models, and theories that are applicable to astronomical objects and phenomena.
3. Analyze and apply the physical laws, models, and theories that are applicable to astronomical objects and phenomena.
4. Assess (or Evaluate) the testability of a hypothesis.
5. Develop appropriate astronomical hypotheses.
6. Analyze and interpret the success or failure of astronomical hypotheses.

Outcome 2: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to use specialized scientific vocabulary.

Objectives:

1. Define astronomical terminology.
2. Recall astronomical terminology.
3. Employ astronomical terminology.

Outcome 3: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to analyze the techniques used in observing and collecting data on astronomical objects and phenomena, and how astronomical observations and data are analyzed and interpreted.

Objectives:

1. Identify properties of electromagnetic radiation.
2. Compare astronomical techniques of data acquisition.
3. Interpret the observations and data acquired through various techniques.
4. Perform calculations relevant to the phenomena of Wien’s Law, the Inverse Square Law, temperature conversions, and stellar magnitudes.
5. Identify techniques used to study various astronomical objects and phenomena.
6. Describe methods astronomers use to analyze collected data.

Outcome 4: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to identify the techniques for extending scientific laws and models from the laboratory setting to the observed universe.

Objectives:

1. Identify the scientific law or model to which the laboratory setting can be applied.
2. Identify the laboratory setting that applies to particular scientific law or model.

Outcome 5: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to explain the Earth’s place in the universe.

Objectives:

1. Recall that the Earth is located in a spatial hierarchy consisting of the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Local Group, and the Local Super cluster.
2. Describe the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Local Group, and the Local Super cluster.

Outcome 6: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to iInterpret the sky.

Objective:

1. Discern the color differences between stars.
2. Describe the diurnal motion of the stars.
3. Recognize that there are more stars in the sky than are viewable with the naked eye.
4. Locate Polaris, the North Star.

Outcome 7: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to explain the historical perspective of the development of the scientific method and scientific laws.

Objectives:

1. Reconstruct the development of the Stellar Magnitude System, Hubble’s Law, the Big Bang Theory, Stellar Evolution, and our understanding of the Earth’s place in the Universe from the historical beginnings to modern times.
2. Describe the evolution of the scientific method and scientific laws.
3. Describe the catalysts for the evolution of the scientific method and scientific laws.
4. Identify the principle investigators of astronomical concepts.
5. Describe the contributions of the principle investigators to the development of the scientific method and scientific laws.

• Communication: The graduate can communicate effectively for the intended purpose and audience.
• Critical Thinking: The graduate can make informed decisions after analyzing information or evidence related to the issue.
• Global Literacy: The graduate can analyze human behavior or experiences through cultural, social, political, or economic perspectives.
• Information Literacy: The graduate can responsibly use information gathered from a variety of formats in order to complete a task.
• Quantitative Reasoning: The graduate can apply quantitative methods or evidence to solve problems or make judgments.
• Scientific Literacy: The graduate can produce or interpret scientific information presented in a variety of formats.

1. Light
   1. The Nature of Light
   2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
   3. The Origin of Light
   4. Emissions Lines and Bands
   5. Absorption Lines and Band
   6. Design of Optical Telescopes
   7. Photometry
   8. Spectrophotometry
   9. Interferometry
2. The Sun
   1. Composition of the Sun
   2. Interior Structure
   3. The Photosphere
   4. The Chromosphere
   5. The Corona
   6. The Magnetic Field
   7. The Solar Wind
   8. Sunspots and Related Activity
   9. The Solar Constant
   10. Terrestrial Effects
   11. The Sun and the Theory of Relativity
3. Measuring the Basic properties of Stars
   1. Distance
   2. Apparent Brightness and the Magnitude System
   3. Luminosity and Absolute Magnitude
   4. Effective Temperature and Wien’s Law
   5. Diameter and Stephan-Boltzmann’s Law
   6. Mass and Kepler’s Laws
   7. Composition and Stellar Spectra
4. Classifying Stellar Types
   1. The Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram
   2. Main Sequence Stars
   3. White Dwarfs
   4. Giants and Supergiants
5. Early Stellar Evolution
   1. Molecular Clouds
   2. Bok Globules and the Protostar Stage
   3. Pre-Main Sequence Stars
   4. Cocoon Nebulae and Infrared Stars
   5. Brown Dwarfs
   6. T Tauri Stars
6. Middle Aged Stars
   1. Main Sequence Stage
   2. The Proton-Proton Chain
   3. Larger Stars and the Carbon Cycle
   4. Main-Sequence Lifetimes
7. Stellar Death and Transfiguration
   1. Red Giant Stars
   2. The Triple-Alpha Process
   3. Helium Flash
   4. Variable Stars
   5. Cepheid Variables
   6. Planetary Nebulae
   7. White Dwarfs
   8. The Chandrasekhar Limit
   9. Supernovae
   10. Type I and Type II Supernovae
   11. Neutron Stars and Pulsars
   12. Black Holes
   13. The Theory of Relativity and Detecting Black Holes
8. Interstellar Environments
   1. Interaction of Light with Atoms
   2. Interaction of Light with Molecules
   3. Interaction of Light with Dust Grains
   4. Rayleigh Scattering
   5. Interstellar Reddening
   6. Molecular Clouds
   7. HI Regions
   8. HII Regions
   9. Bubbles and Superbubbles
9. Multiple Star Systems
   1. Optical Doubles and Physical Binaries
   2. Visual Binaries
   3. Spectroscopic Binaries
   4. Eclipsing Binaries
   5. Astrometric Binaries
   6. Mass Transfer in Binary Star Systems
   7. Novae and Supernovae
   8. Origin of Binary Star Systems
   9. Planetary Systems
10. Star Clusters and Associations
    1. Open Star Clusters
    2. Associations
    3. Globular Star Clusters
    4. Distances to Clusters
    5. Cepheid Variables as Distance Indicators
11. The Milky Way Galaxy
    1. Size
    2. Stellar Surveys and the Galactic Shape
    3. Rotation
    4. Age
    5. Population I Stars
    6. Population II Stars
    7. The Nucleus
    8. Spiral Arms
12. Galaxies
    1. Measuring Distances to the Galaxies
    2. The Magellanic Clouds
    3. The Local Galaxies
    4. Dwarf Galaxies
    5. Elliptical Galaxies
    6. Spiral Galaxies
    7. Irregular Galaxies
    8. Peculiar Galaxies
    9. The Hubble Classification
13. The Expanding Universe
    1. The Red Shift of Galaxies
    2. Hubble’s Law
    3. The Static Universe
    4. The Expanding Universe
    5. The Big Bang
    6. Clusters of Galaxies
    7. Dark Matter
    8. Quasars
    9. The Age of the Universe
    10. Alternative Cosmologies
    11. The Search for Intelligent Life