Honors Astronomy 162, Spring 2000
This is the web page for the Spring, 2000 honors section of
Astronomy 162.
Items handed out in class
As of June 1, the following items have been handed out.
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Course Syllabus.
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A list of questions about stars.
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Problem set 1, due Wednesday, April 5.
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Important equation sheet number 1 (equations 1-3).
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Edmund Halley's paper on proper motion.
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Notes on determining the mass of the earth and the mass of
a visual binary.
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Problem set 2, due Thursday, April 13.
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An illustration of stellar spectral classes.
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A table of spectral classes, needed for Problem Set 2.
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Important equation sheet number 2 (equation 4).
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Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams of nearby stars.
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Problem set 3, due Wednesday, April 19.
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Important equation sheet number 3 (equations 5 and 6).
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Review guide for first midterm.
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Problem set 4, due Wednesday, April 26.
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Problem set 5, due Wednesday, May 3.
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Article on The Internal Constitution of the Stars, by Arthur Eddington (1920).
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Handout on nuclear fusion in the sun.
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Problem set 6, due Thursday, May 10.
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HR diagrams of star clusters handout.
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Review guide for second midterm.
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Description of H163 course.
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Essay: Darth Vader meets Enrico Fermi
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Second midterm, question 1.
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Empirical evidence for the theory of stellar structure and evolution.
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Problem set 7, due Wednesday, May 31.
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Important equation sheet number 4 (equation 7, Hubble's law).
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Handout on Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
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Review guide for final exam.
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Student evaluation, to be turned in on Thursday, June 1.
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Handout on galaxy properties.
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Important equation sheet number 5 (equation 8, mass-rotation speed).
Reading assignments, from Bless textbook:
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Electromagnetic radiation: pp. 173-178, 234-235
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Parallax and proper motion: pp. 273-283
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Stellar masses: pp. 290-295.
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Blackbodies, atoms, and spectra: pp. 179-192.
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Stellar spectra: pp. 241-256.
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The HR diagram: chapter 12 (pp. 273-298, much of which was previously
assigned).
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Structure of stars: chapter 13. Eddington article (handed out in class).
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Optional: Star formation: chapter 14.
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Stellar evolution: chapter 15, all (esp. pp. 354-366). Chapter 16, pp. 369-376.
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Supernovae: chapter 16, pp. 394-405.
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Optional: Neutron stars: pp. 381-394.
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Black holes: pp. 409-414.
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Galaxies: chapter 17, all.
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More on galaxies: chapter 18, all.
My lecture notes from regular Astronomy 162 may be useful as
supplementary reading. I will tell you which notes you may
want to look at after we cover the corresponding material in
class. You can access the lecture notes
here (scroll to the
bottom of the page).
Lecture notes to look at, as of:
Miscellaneous information
For information about the astronomy department's "Roof Nights"
(planetarium and telescope shows) click
here.
Go to David Weinberg's Home Page
Updated: 2000 May 31[dhw]