Course Syllabus

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Course Description:

This course covers topics in modern  stellar astronomy, such as the life cycle of stars, black holes, and supernovae. It also includes topics on cosmology and galactic astronomy, such as dark matter, dark energy, the Big Bang, and the expansion of the Universe.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • apply theories and models from classical physics and modern physics to explain astronomical observations and phenomena.
  • describe the structure of the Sun and its source of energy.
  • explain how astronomers collect light from distant stars and discuss what can be learned from analyzing that light.
  • classify different types of stars and galaxies, and discuss the stellar life cycle in the context of stellar evolution.
  • describe the astronomical evidence for dark matter and dark energy, and discuss their implications.
  • describe the scientific evidence and models regarding the nature and origin of the Universe, including its evolution from the Big Bang up to today.

Course Content:

  • Light: the nature of light, the electromagnetic spectrum, the atom and spectroscopy, telescopes on Earth and in space, and the Doppler effect.
  • Einstein's relativity and particle physics fundamentals: speed of light, time dilation, quarks, and leptons. Fundamental forces of nature.
  • Sun: internal structure, nuclear fusion, solar activity, heliosphere, and the limits of the solar system.
  • Stars: classification of stars, Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagrams, main sequence, luminosity, and apparent and absolute brightness.
  • Stellar evolution: birth, life and death of stars. Stellar death: white dwarfs, neutron stars, supernovae, and black holes.
  • The Milky Way and large scale structure of our galaxy. Evolution of galaxies: galaxy formation and galaxy collisions. Spirals, Elliptical, and Irregular galaxies.
  • Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), quasars and other active galactic nuclei, and supermassive black holes - the most energetic and farthest away objects in the Universe.
  • The astronomical evidence for dark matter and dark energy, including their implications.
  • Cosmology: large-scale structure, Cosmic Background Microwave Radiation (CMBR), cosmic evolution, the expanding Universe, the geometry of the Universe, and the fate of the Universe.

Textbook:

Great news: your textbook for this class is available for free online!
Astronomy from OpenStax, ISBN 1-947172-01-8

You have several options to obtain this book:

    You can use whichever formats you want. Web view is recommended -- the responsive design works seamlessly on any device.

    Important Notes:

    • All first week assignments need to be completed and submitted by the due date to avoid possibly being dropped from the class.
    • Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will result in a failing grade on the assignment. Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. "Ideas or phrasing" includes written or spoken material, from whole papers and paragraphs to sentences, and, indeed, phrases but it also includes statistics, lab results, art work, etc.  Please see the Navarro College handbook for policies regarding plagiarism, harassment, etc.

    Course Summary:

    Date Details Due