The schedule below is approximately correct, subject to final adjustments. Check back periodically, especially to confirm the material to be covered on the exams. Click on the lecture to see chapter outlines. Click on the date to see the reading guide for that week's chapters. Information is posted only after it's prepared, usually shortly before the lecture.
| Date | Chapters | Comments |
| September | ||
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Prologue (notes, powerpoint), 1 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 14 | 2 (notes, powerpoint), 3 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 21 | 4 (notes, powerpoint), 5 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 28 | 14 (notes, powerpoint), First Exam (prologue to Ch. 5) | |
| October | ||
| 5 | 15 (notes, powerpoint), 16 (notes, powerpoint), 17 (notes, powerpoint) | topic & references due |
| 12 | 18 (notes, powerpoint), 19 (notes, powerpoint), 20 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 19 | 21 (notes, powerpoint), 22 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 26 | 23 (notes, powerpoint), 24 (notes, powerpoint), Second Exam (Ch. 14 to 22) | |
| November | ||
| 2 | 25 (notes, powerpoint), 26 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 9 | 27 (notes, powerpoint), 28 (notes, powerpoint), 29 (notes, powerpoint) | paper due |
| 16 | 6 (notes, powerpoint), Third Exam (Ch. 23 to 29) | |
| 23 | No class | |
| 30 | 7 (notes, powerpoint), 8 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| December | ||
| 7 | 9 (notes, powerpoint), 10 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 14 | 11 (notes, powerpoint), 12 (notes, powerpoint), 13 (notes, powerpoint) | |
| 21 | Final Exam (all chapters with emphasis on Ch. 6 to 13) | |
I have used the following web sites, and include them here for your reference. This is not a complete list of astronomy related sites. Consult Appendix 1 in the text for more, or do a search for the topic that interests you.
The New York Times science section (big updates are on Tuesdays). www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html
The CNN web site carries a lot of short science articles with links to sources for more information. www.cnn.com/TECH/space
Sky & Telescope magazine. www.skypub.com
Tips for beginning observers. www.skypub.com/tips/tips.html
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA handles many of NASA's planetary satellites. They are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Voyager spacecraft. www.jpl.nasa.gov
The Hubble space telescope site has lots of great pictures.
The Space Telescope Science Institute site is aimed at the professional astronomer, but you might find it interesting to look around.
The European Southern Observatory site links to new results from the telescopes operated by this consortium of countries.
A very interesting page that tries to explain how stellar spectra are used to tell us what's in a star.
The United States Naval Observatory is one of the official time keepers, and publishes some astrometric measurements.