ASTR& 101 - Introduction to Astronomy with Lab

5 Credits

The goal of the course is to spark students’ curiosity and wonder about astronomical objects, astrophysical phenomena, and the cosmos, including galaxies, quasars, stars, black holes, and the search for exoplanets and extraterrestrial life. Further topics include evidence for dark matter and dark energy, and the history of the universe from the big bang to present day. The course has minimal math and will focus on conceptual understanding. Students will also learn to appreciate scientific methods for advancing knowledge about the physical world including theoretical reasoning, experiment, and observation. The course includes 1 credit of laboratory. Labs will range from experiments in optics and light, to use of telescopes and analysis of telescope images. Finally, we will explore the intersection of science, society and culture by looking at the Indigenous ways of knowing, cultural meanings of the night sky and history of non-Western science.

Pre-requisite(s) MATH 081 or higher with a minimum 2.0
Placement Eligibility Math 91 or higher
FeesSC PH

Quarters Typically Offered
Summer Day
Fall Day
Designed to Serve Students needing a lab science credit. Students interested in astronomy, physics and/or astrophysics as a potential major. Students not majoring in STEM seeking to explore science at a conceptual level.
Active Date 20230320T11:42:41

Grading Basis Decimal Grade
Class Limit 24
Contact Hours: Lecture 44 Lab 22
Total Contact Hours 66
Degree Distributions:
AA

Natural Science
Science
Science Lab

Course Outline
Astronomy Fundamentals:

Nature of science and astronomy.
Cultural, societal, and technological motivations to pursue astronomy.
Scientific notation, significant figures, units, and measurement.
Size and scale of important objects in the Universe including distance and mass, and how they are determined.
Our location in the universe.

Observing the Sky:

Basic optics including lenses and mirrors, principles of reflection and refraction based on ray model of light.
Reflecting versus refracting telescopes and effects of the Earth’s atmosphere on observations with ground-based telescopes.
History and workings of space-based telescopes.

Light:

Light as waves and electromagnetic spectrum, and how electromagnetic radiation transfers energy and information through interstellar space.
Michelson-Morley experiment and speed of light as a fundamental constant.
Light and color including color in telescope images.
The structure of the atom and formation of spectral lines.
Continuous, emission, and absorption spectra, and how they are used to infer information about astronomical objects.

Gravity:

Gravity as a force and as curvature of spacetime.
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation.
Kepler’s Laws and planetary orbits.

Stars:

What powers a star including differences between nuclear fission and fusion, and energy-mass equivalence.
Lifecycle of stars including formation, evolution and death.
Supernovae, neutron stars and black holes.
Classification of stars and measurement of mass, luminosity and size.
H-R diagram including how it is constructed, properties of the different types of stars and the evolution of those stars.
Stellar spectra and composition of stars.
Perceptions of the night sky as filtered through the lens of culture and identity and the role storytelling from the perspective of an indigenous culture.

Galaxies:

Methods for detecting galaxies and measuring properties including mass and luminosity.
Classification of galaxies.
Supermassive black hole properties and evidence for existence.
Extragalactic distance scale and the Hubble Law.
Cosmic acceleration including doppler effect of light and redshift.

Cosmology:

Methods to determine the age of the Universe.
Inflationary model of the universe.
Distribution of galaxies and large-scale structure.
Early universe and cosmic microwave background.
Visible and invisible matter including dark matter and dark energy. Current evidence and unanswered questions.

Exoplanets and Extraterrestrial Life:

Methods for detecting exoplanets.
Habitable zones and building blocks of life.
The Drake Formula to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy.

Student Learning Outcomes
Demonstrate understanding of the scientific method and how science differs from other ways of understanding the world.

Describe the theories, laws and evidence for the key physical processes that underlie the origin and evolution of astronomical objects and phenomena in our observable universe.

Solve problems involving physical systems using conceptual reasoning, arithmetic and/or graphical analysis.

Collect, analyze and interpret data and measurements from laboratory to draw valid conclusions.

Communicate real-world applications and connections related to astronomy.

Create individual outcomes on indigenous knowledge of astronomy, non-Western contributions to scientific thought, intersection of astronomy and culture and identity, and/or applying a social justice lens to the advancement and ownership of scientific knowledge.