Title: Week 2: Astronomy and Physics
Course: ASTRON103: The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology (001) DHH SU18 > Section: Week 2

Overview

Welcome to Week 2! The theme for this week is Astronomy and Physics. To go beyond merely documenting the distant objects we see in the sky, and develop an understanding of their properties and behaviors, we turn to the branch of science known as Physics. This is a very broad discipline covering many different topics; here, we're going to focus on understanding how objects move, how they attract one another via the force of gravity, and what we can learn from the study of light.

To get started, watch the video below where Rich and DK provide an overview of the week ahead. Then, dive into the Content (book and videos) and start planning how you'll undertake the weekly Activities (writing assignment, discussion forum, At Play in the Cosmos, weekly quiz, and longer-term project). To help you organize these tasks, we provide a Schedule and Checklist at the bottom of the page.

Content

Readings

The following readings from the Astronomy book cover the topics that we'll be focusing on this week:

- Chapter 3: Orbits and Gravity (all sections)
- Chapter 5: Radiation and Spectra (all sections)
- Chapter 6: Astronomical Instruments (sections 1 & 2)

Two-Minute Universe

In these mini-lectures, Rich and DK cover a single topic from the book in a couple of minutes, by building up a page of notes and visuals summarizing the key facts and concepts you need to know. The summary page is available for download separately from the video, as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

- Newton's Laws (2m39s; video, summary)
- Freefall & How Satellites Orbit (1m32s; video, summary)
- What is Light? (2m11s; video, summary)
- The Inverse Square Law (1m44s; video, summary)
- The Electromagnetic Spectrum (2m53s; video, summary)
- Radiation Laws (2m41s; video, summary)
- Spectroscopy (3m50s; video, summary)
- Atomic Structure (2m49s; video, summary)
- The Doppler Effect (5m5s; video, summary)
- Light and Atoms (2m17s; video, summary)

Whiteboard

In these more in-depth lectures, DK explores a variety of topics with the aid of white-board sketches.

- Orbits (14m34s; video)
- Spectra (6m22s; video)
- Telescopes (9m58s; video)

At Play in the Cosmos Flythroughs

In these flythroughs of the At Play in the Cosmos Game, Rich provides commentary on the concepts being presented, highlights some pitfalls to be aware of, and tries to avoid being blown up by the bad guys.

- Mission 5: Refuel the Reactor (9m50s; hi-res video, lo-res video)
- Mission 6: Rogue Comet Rescue (11m56s; hi-res video, lo-res video)
- Mission 7: A Survey in Blue (9m9s; hi-res video, lo-res video)
- Mission 8: Alien Homeworld (20m6s; hi-res video, lo-res video)
- Mission 9: Surveying a Cluster (12m41s; hi-res video, lo-res video)
- Mission 10: Rendezvous at Saturn (5m5s; hi-res video, lo-res video)

Physics Demos

In these live-action demos, DK demonstrates various physics concepts.

- Gravity Table (3m58s; video)

Activities

Writing Assignment

This week's writing assignment invites you to research a future telescope (proposed, planned, or under construction). Review the writing assignment and begin reflecting on relevant themes early during the week; summer courses move quickly, so it is to your advantage to think ahead.  The assignment is due by 11:59pm on Wednesday, June 27^th.

At Play in the Cosmos Missions

This week's game missions step up the excitement: you'll be chasing a rogue comet, and discovering an alien homeworld. We suggest you try these missions by yourself at first, and then dip into Rich's flythroughs (see above) for guidance and commentary. The deadline for completing the missions is 11:59 PM on Friday, June 29^th.

Discussion

This week's discussion focuses on the artificial satellites orbiting the Earth — what are the thousand-plus satellites doing up there?. You need to make an initial post in order to see other students' responses, and you must make a total of three posts by the deadline of 11:59 PM on Saturday, June 30^th.

Quiz

This week's quiz tests your understanding of the topics covered throughout the week, and is drawn from Chapters 3, 5 and 6 of the Astronomy textbook. It consists of ten questions with written answers. You can take it anytime up until 11:59pm on Sunday, July 1^st; solutions will be provided the day after this deadline.

2 Week Project

This week you'll be finishing the first multi-week project, planning a trip to view the next total solar eclipse occurring in the continental USA, in 2024.  The project is due by 11:59 PM on Sunday, July 1^st.

Weekly Schedule & Checklist

Use the schedule below to pace yourself during this week, and the check-boxes to mark off your progress.  Each horizontal line represents an important task and the corresponding days on which you should focus on that task. It is important that you keep pace to perform well on the weekly quiz, and to participate fully in the discussion forum.

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