ASTRONOMY 1020
STELLAR AND GALACTIC ASTRONOMY
FALL 2007
SYLLABUS

Course Information:
Class:	Monday, Wednesday, Friday Period 7 (2:30pm to 3:20pm) Room 202 in Physics Building
Instructor:	Dr. Robin Shelton Room 306A in Physics Building
Office Hours:	Tuesday 2pm - 3pm & Wednesday 4pm-5pm Room 306A in Physics Building
Textbook:	Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology, 4th ed., by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit
Website:	http://hal.physast.uga.edu/~rls/astro1020/index.html

Class Schedule:
Day	Date	Chapter	Topic
Fri.	Aug. 17	1	the Universe
Mon.	Aug. 20	1	the Universe
Wed.	Aug. 22	1	the Universe
Fri.	Aug. 24	part of 2, 3	Observing, Science of Astronomy
Mon.	Aug. 27	3	Science of Astronomy
Wed.	Aug. 29	4	Motion, Energy, Gravity
Fri.	Aug. 31	4	Motion, Energy, Gravity
Mon.	Sept. 3	-	Labor Day
Wed.	Sept. 5	4	Motion, Energy, Gravity
Fri.	Sept. 7	5	Light and Matter
Mon.	Sept. 10	5	Light and Matter
Wed.	Sept. 12	6	Telescopes
Fri.	Sept. 14	6	Telescopes
Mon.	Sept. 17	1,3,4,5,6	Review
Wed.	Sept. 19	1,3,4,5,6	Midterm I
Fri.	Sept. 21	14	Our Star (the Sun)
Mon.	Sept. 24	14	Our Star (the Sun)
Wed.	Sept. 26	14	Our Star (the Sun)
Fri.	Sept. 28	15	Stars
Mon.	Oct. 1	15	Stars
Wed.	Oct. 3	15, begin 16	Stars, begin Star Birth
Fri.	Oct. 5	16	Star Birth
Mon.	Oct. 8	16	Star Birth
Wed.	Oct. 10	17	Star Stuff
Fri.	Oct. 12	17	Star Stuff
Mon.	Oct. 15	18	Star Death
Wed.	Oct. 17	18	Star Death
Fri.	Oct. 19	14,15,16,17,18	Midterm II
Mon.	Oct. 22	19	Our Galaxy
Wed.	Oct. 24	19	Our Galaxy
Fri.	Oct. 26	-	Fall Break
Mon.	Oct. 29	19	Our Galaxy
Wed.	Oct. 31	20	Galaxies
Fri.	Nov. 2	20	Galaxies
Mon.	Nov. 5	21	Galactic Evolution
Wed.	Nov. 7	21	Galactic Evolution
Fri.	Nov. 9	21	Galactic Evolution
Mon.	Nov. 12	22	Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Wed.	Nov. 14	22	Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Fri.	Nov. 16	S2	Space and Time
Mon.	Nov. 19	S2	Space and Time
Wed.	Nov. 21	-	No UGA Classes
Fri.	Nov. 23	-	Thanksgiving Holiday
Mon.	Nov. 26	S3	Spacetime and Gravity
Wed.	Nov. 28	S3	Spacetime and Gravity
Fri.	Nov. 30	19,20,21,22,S2,S3	Midterm III
Mon.	Dec. 3.	23	Beginning of Time
Wed.	Dec. 5	entire semester	Review
Mon.	Dec 10	cumulative	Final Exam (3:30 - 6:30pm)

Homework:
Working out homework problems is an excellent learning tool and will help you on the exams. Homework problems will be assigned regularly but will not be graded. The problems and solutions will be posted at http://hal.physast.uga.edu/~rls/astro1020/hw/index.html.

Tests:
This course will have 3 midterms and a final exam. Each of the midterms will take place during class time and will cover several chapters. The final exam will take place during finals week and will cover the entire course.
You need to bring a pencil and a calculator to each exam. If any question requires a special formula taught in class, the formula will be provided on a formula sheet like http://hal.physast.uga.edu/~rls/astro1020/formulae.jpg. At most, you will only need a few of these formulae.
You need to be on time for the exams. Once any student has finished the exam and left the room, no other student may enter the room and begin the exam.
In order to accommodate you during times when you are ill, have had an accident, etc., your lowest exam score will be dropped. Each of the remaining exams will be weighted equally. For the purpose of applying this "drop one exam" policy, the final exam will be treated in the same manner as each midterm. The "drop one exam" policy applies to every person in the class.
Your test results will be posted on WebCT. See Student Help with WebCT for help getting started with WebCT.

Grades:
Each of the 3 highest exam scores counts for 1/3 of the class grade.
A = 91.00 to 100.00, A- = 89.00 to 90.99, B+ = 87.00 to 88.99, B = 81.0 to 86.99, B- = 79.00 to 80.99, C+ = 77.00 to 78.99, C = 71.0 to 76.99, C- = 69.00 to 70.99, D = 60.00 to 68.99, F = below 60.00

Support and Advice:
I am here to help you. I'd be happy to talk with you during office hours about the course material, how to solve the homework problems, and even how to solve problems on your previous Astronomy 1020 exams.
Reading all of the assigned reading, taking notes during class, doing the homework, and talking with classmates about the concepts covered in the course tends to improve students' exam scores by one or two grade points. The exam questions cover similar topics as the homework, textbook, and in-class questions. So, working these problems tends to boost one's exam grades.
Understanding a course on introductory astronomy usually requires about 6 hours/week for reading the text, 3 hours/week for attending the lecture, some additional time per week for working the practice problems, and several hours/exam for exam study.

Policies:
Cell phones are not allowed in class on exam days. If you bring a cell phone during an exam day, you may leave it with the instructor during the exam. On non-exam days, cell phones may be brought into class, but must be turned off. We will discuss additional forms of classroom etiquette during class.
Make-up midterm exams may be offered on a limited basis at the professor's discretion to students who have not previously taken a make-up midterm exam in this course, who will be taking the make-up exam instead of dropping their lowest exam score, and who can provide 1.) a legitimate reason for missing the exam, 2.) a written, signed explanation of the reason, and 3.) supporting documentation within one week of the date of the missed exam. The professor is the final judge regarding the acceptability of the reason, explanation, and documentation. The make-up exams may have a different format and scope than the regular exams. For example, the make-up exams may be in essay format.
Midway through the semester, the university asks instructors for names of students who have not regularly attended class. If you miss the first or second midterm but intend to continue taking the class, please contact the instructor. If the instructor has not heard from you, she may list your name as a non-attender.
Hand-outs giving during class are for people who attended class and need not be provided to those who did not attend class.
We will follow the university policies on withdrawals, incompletes, and academic honesty. For more information, see The University of Georgia Bulletin and A Culture of Honesty at www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/culture_honesty.htm.

Revisions:
The syllabus may be revised in the future.