BRANDON UNIVERSITY

Physics & Astronomy 74:184 – Solar Systems Astronomy

Dominic Walliman
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Tyler Foster Office: 2-12 Brodie Hrs: MWF 2-3 pm Email: [email protected]
LECTURE: (in-person) Slot 3 10:40–11:30AM MWF Theatre A (basement) Brodie Science Centre
Livestream of each class on ZOOM Meeting ID: 437 110 3113 Passcode: 47474
TEXT: Astronomy 2e. Contrib. authors: Fraknoi, Morrison, Wolff. OpenStax, ©2022 Rice U.TX
This book is FREE (open-source textbook) and is used for both 74:184 and 74:185
Galaxies/Universe courses. It saves you paying $200+ for a textbook from a for-profit publisher, and
the material is just as top-shelf and written by top astronomers. The 1st ed. book is already integrated
into your TopHat pages. You can also freely download it: openstax.org/details/books/astronomy-2e.
An excellent companion resource to the powerpoint lectures, your main source for class material.
ONLINE COURSE PLATFORM: https://app-ca.tophat.com/e/248144
COST: $24 (required; this single price covers every/all TOPHAT courses you take in a term). You
can download TopHat’s App or access your TopHat page from a browser ( Chrome is supported)
NAME: Solar Systems Astronomy 184 – Fall 2023 (Join Code: 248144) PASSWORD: Shamrocks
All lectures will be done live together (in Lecture Theatre A, Brodie). I know everyone leads
extremely busy lives, so if you are not able to make the occasional lecture on-campus, I will be
live-streaming all Theatre A lectures by ZOOM. Additionally, links to recordings of these ZOOM
lectures will be posted on your TopHat pages, so you can review them later. I cannot moderate a large
online ZOOM group while lecturing and thus cannot respond to online questions in real-time: please
contact me during office hours and we can meet together via ZOOM for your questions. The course’s
lecture slides for each chapter will be downloadable from TopHat. I recommend taking notes during
lectures along with them. TopHat’s Gradebook is updated automatically so you always know how you
are doing after every exam and in-class quiz. In-class quizzes will be done with TopHat at the end of
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each chapter (8 total). Your two MT tests and the Final Exam will be done online (paperless) using
TopHat’s Test feature (but not Proctorio). The Final is set for 9:00 AM Monday Dec. 18.
PROPOSED EVALUATION: In-class quizzes (8): 10%
Mid-Term tests (Friday Oct. 6 & Nov. 10): 20%2
Final Exam (minimum): 50%
(Optional) Special Project: 10% from lowest scoring MT
Notes: Full correctness(5%) + participation(5%) marks for Online class quizzes awarded only to students who write them
during class-time – students that arrange to write them outside of class will receive only correctness marks.
• The optional Special Project will replace 10% of the weight of your lowest-scoring MT exam; that MT will then
be weighted only as 10% of your overall grade, instead of 20%.
• The Final Exam is cumulative and covers the whole course. If your Final Exam mark exceeds both of your raw
MT marks, the Final will be weighted as 90% of your overall grade (80% if you do the Special Project).
IMPORTANT DATES: Sept. 20 (Wed.): last day to add/drop 1st term courses and 100% refund
Sept. 29 (Friday): National Truth & Reconciliation day (Sept. 30), no classes
Nov. 13 – 17 Fall Study break; no classes scheduled
Nov. 20 (Monday): last day for Voluntary Withdrawal from 1st term courses
Dec. 8 (Friday): last day of 1st term classes (note: Thurs. Dec. 7 follows a Monday schedule so includes a 184 lecture)
Dec. 18 (Monday): tentative date of 74:184 final exam
DESCRIPTION: This course is a general introduction to Astronomy as a science, and what we know
about the Solar System (the Sun, its eight planets and other objects) and other planetary systems in the
universe. With new space missions every year to planets, discoveries of atmospheres around
exoplanets by the Webb telescope and the Artemis missions to the Moon, today is truly a golden age
of solar system exploration – our knowledge of both our own system and those around other stars in
the universe is constantly changing. Astro 184 will start with a brief history of astronomy as the oldest
of the sciences, with a special look at Native American astronomy (Cree) mythology and knowledge
attached to the sky. Next we look at the tools of astronomy (telescopes), motions of the sky, and how
to interpret what we observe by understanding the interactions between light and matter. We then
look at planetary systems with a discussion of how solar systems form. We start a tour of our solar
system at its centre by studying the Sun’s structure and energy production, and go to each one of the 8
major planets. Our last chapter will introduce the cutting-edge field of extra-solar planets and the
ongoing discovery of thousands of new solar systems in the universe and the real possibility of life. In
your OpenStax text this is Chapters 1-14.
In general 74:184 and Galaxies/Universe 74:185 are both non-mathematical. Throughout both a few
simple formulae will be introduced, but the courses’ ultimate focus is on conceptual understanding of
the material and of the scientific process. Your ability to use simple formulae will not be critical to
success, but your ability to understand and apply ideas and
fuse them together will be. In class, I will be discussing
ideas more thoroughly and work through problems in more
detail than can be done on the slides, so attention in
lectures is very important!
OBSERVATORY: The sky is a dynamic & changing place,
and is where astronomy happens! As a fun activity (not for
course credit) we will offer the class several observing
nights at the BU Astronomical Observatory throughout the
fall. You are encouraged to bring your family. These will
be announced in class and are weather-dependent, but will
occur in the weeks around the 1st Quarter moon phase
(Sept. 22, Oct. 21 and Nov. 20). The 2023 fall sky is spectacular with planets Venus, Jupiter & Saturn
dominating the sky, and a partial solar eclipse in Brandon on Oct. 14.
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GRADING: Below is the grading transformation that was applied in 74:184 from last year (2022). This
is only an example of how percentages transform to a letter grade; not necessarily the scheme that will
be used this year. The range for a letter varies by ±5% year-to-year. Keep this in mind.
82 - 100% → A+ 79 - 81% → A 74 - 78% → A−  -  → + 62 - 68% → B
60 - 61%→ B− 54 - 59%→ C+ 51 - 53% → C 48 - 51 → C−  - 47 %→ D <43% → F
MAJOR CHAPTERS/TOPICS AND RESOURCES:
Course Preliminaries: Lecture Slides and lecture notes only.
Chapter 2: Early History: Astronomy as Myth & Science: Read Pages 42-49 (Sec. 2.2,
Chapter 2); Pages 54-60 (Sec. 2.4); 70-78 (Sec. 3.1 and 3.2 Chapter 3) and 81-89 (Sec. 3.4). Notes on
Native American astronomy are unique to BU’s astronomy course and are in PPT lectures only.
Chapter 5: Radiation and Spectra (Light): Read Pages 145-180
Chapter 6: Astronomical Instruments: Read pp. 191-205 (Ch. 6) & 210-216 (Radio Telescopes)
Chapter 4: The Sky and its Motions: Gaining Perspective: Read Chapter 4, Pages 104-117
and 120-134 (The Moon – orbit, phases and eclipses). Material to be studied mainly is in lectures and
your notes of them; Textbook’s Ch. 4 is good supplement.
Chapter 7: The Structure and Formation of the Solar System: Read Ch. 7 pp. 234-244
(Scale & Characteristics) and 254-256 (Origin of the Solar System). Mainly Textbook Ch. 7 & 14
Chapters 15/16: The Sun; Read Chapters 15 & 16: Pages 524-544 (Ch. 15 - Sun structure &
features) and Pages 559-578 (Solar energy source & model). Material to be studied mainly is in
lectures and your notes of them. Ch.15 & 16 a good extra resource for material.
The Moon: Structure and Origin: Read Pages 303-321 (Chapter 9). Study mainly lecture notes
The Planet Mercury: Read pages 321-327, Chapter 9. Mainly lectures also in Ch. 9
The Planet Venus: Read Pages 335-349 (Chapter 10: Venus). Material to be studied mainly is in
lectures and your notes of them.
The Planet Mars: Read Pages 350-366 (Chapter 10: Mars). Material to be studied mainly is in
lectures and your notes of them.
The Planet Jupiter: Read Pages 379-402 (Chapter 11). Material to be studied mainly is in lectures
and your notes of them.
The Planet Saturn: Read Pages 379-402 (Chapter 11). Material to be studied mainly is in lectures
and your notes of them.
The Planet Uranus: Read Pages 379-402 (Chapter 11). Material to be studied mainly is in lectures
and your notes of them.
The Planet Neptune: Read Pages 379-402 (Chapter 11). Material to be studied mainly is in
lectures and your notes of them.
Chapter 12: The Outer Solar System: Comets, Asteroids, and Dwarf Planets: Read Pages
327-356
Epilogue: Extra-Solar Planetary Systems: Other Worlds. No chapters in book; material will
entirely be in PowerPoint lectures available to you, plus your notes of the lectures themselves.
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