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Astronomy 109 Spring 2022
(subject to revisions)
01:750:109:09348 ASTRONOMY & COSMOLOGY Web Page www.physics.rutgers.edu/~croft/A109-S22.html
Instructor:Prof. Mark Croft/Serin113/848-445-8746/croft AT physics.rutgers.edu
Text: ASTRONOMY TODAY V.1:SOLAR SYSTEM 9th edition by Chaisson & McMillan Pearson [ISBN: 9780134566221]
Options for obtaining textbook.
Lectures: Tues. Thur. 7th period 7:30-8:50 PM
Office hours: 1 hour before and after every Lecture
and by appointment (contact through email)
The course CANVAS site is at https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/161973
Lecture notes are on CANVAS https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/161973/files
Note: 01-lec-01...pdf means pdf-file of lecture number 1.
Lecture videos are on CANVAS https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/161973/external_tools/5464
The Homeworks (and later tests) are at https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/161973/quizzes
!!Announcements:
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1] T Mar 8 MIDTERM 7:30-8:50 PM. Material: Lectures 1-12; Book chapters 1-6, A1-A3
2] Homeworks are a major part of the grade! Do not fail to do them !! [Due on Thus. before lecture, but best submit well before.]
3] Lecture Notes in the lecture note directory link above.
4] Follow space in the news and current sky charts at: Sky & Telescope
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Schedule
Wk Lect Day Date Subject Chapt. HW Due Readings & Demonstrations
1 1 T Jan 18 Introduction & celestial motions 1,A1-A3
1 2 H=TH Jan 20 Seasons and eclipses 1
2 3 T Jan 25 Ancient & Greek astronomy 2 Additional Reading
2 4 H Jan 27 Earth centered universe 2 HW1
3 5 T Feb 1 The Copernican revolution 2 Galileo?s d=at2/2 experiment and graph
3 6 H Feb 3 Kepler's Laws & Galileo's telescope 2 HW2 Galileo?s inclined plane demo
4 7 T Feb 8 Newton: mechanics & Gravity 2 Galileo?s anagram
Good Hume & Ivey reference frames video
Law of Inertia- rest Law of Inertia- moving
Force reaction force
human rocket demo Torque-rotation video
Force/reaction-force demo video.
wine-glass-waiters tray demo cannon recoil in movie
Law of Inertia - moving
4 8 H Feb 10 Light: continuous spectra 3 HW3 spectra
5 9 T Feb 15 Atoms: emission & absorption lines 4
5 10 H Feb 17 Telescopes and instruments 5 HW4 force direction (torque)/rotation
6 11 T Feb 22 Solar System: Overview & Formation 6 ang mom demo-1 ang mom demo-2 rotation demo
6 12 H Feb 24 Solar System: Overview & Formation 6 HW5 Force on current in wire in magnetic field
7 13 T Mar 1 The Earth: atmosphere and tides 7 Force on e in magnetic field
7 14 H Mar 3 The Earth: interior & geology 7 magnetism and geomagnetism
8 15 T Mar 8 MIDTERM 7:30-8:50 PM. Material: Lectures 1-12; Book chapters 1-6, A1-A3
8 16 H Mar 10 The Moon 8
9 Mar 12-20 Spring recess
10 17 T Mar 22 Mercury 8
10 18 H Mar 24 Venus: greenhouse effect 9 HW6
11 19 H Mar 29 Mars: geology of a mid-sized planet 10 Mars-Tharsus-rotation
11 20 H Mar 31 Mars continued 10 HW7 magnet in tube- induced current
12 21 T Apr 5 Jupiter. a gaseous giant 11
12 22 H Apr 7 Jupiter's moons: mini solar system 11 HW8
13 23 T Apr 12 Saturn & its rings 12
13 24 H Apr 14 Uranus & Neptune 13 HW9
14 25 T Apr 19 Solar Syste Debris 14
14 26 H Apr 21 The Sun: our star, solar activity 16 HW10
15 27 T Apr 26 The Sun: cont. 16
15 28 H Apr 28 Exoplanets; Life in Univ. 15 HW11
CUMULATIVE FINAL EXAM: Thursday, May 5, 8-11pm, PHY LH (Confirmed)
Readings: The weekly reading assignments from the book are listed on the syllabus and should be
completed before the corresponding lectures. Additional reading assignments from the web will be in the lecture notes.
Homework: Complete Homework questions must be submitted before Noon on Date Due (see above).
Homework will be assigned in CANVAS on a roughly weekly basis, and will be due before the start
of class on Friday. Assignments will consist of multiple choice questions that assess your
understanding of material covered by previous week's lectures and assigned reading.
Your one lowest homework score will be droped in computing your semester average.
Examinations: A 80 min. Midterm; and a final (Final) 180 min. exam.
A simple calculator (for selected problems) might be useful for the exams.
The exams are multiple choice. The exam dates are noted on the syllabus.
Grades: The course grade will be determined by your scores on:
Homework (35%); Midterm (25%); Final (40%).
In determining your Homework grade the one lowest score will be droped.
Class Policies and Resources: click here