| Name | Dr. Yuk Tung Liu |
| Office | 125 Astronomy |
| ytliu@illinois.edu | |
| Office Hours | Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:30pm—3:00pm or by appointment |
| CRN | Section 1: 30779; Section 2: 39258 |
| Lectures | Section 1: MWF, 1:00pm—1:50pm, 100 Gregory Hall; Section 2: MWF, 2:00pm—2:50pm, 100 Gregory Hall |
| Credit | 3 credit hours. This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for a Physical Sciences (Natural Sciences and Technology) course. Credit is not given to students with credit in ASTR 121, ASTR 122, or ASTR 210. College of Engineering students will not receive credit towards graduation for ASTR 100. |
| Prerequisites | None |
ASTR 100 is a one-semester introduction to astronomy. In this course we will discuss the nature of science; sun, planets, and moons; origin of the solar system; nature and evolution of stars; stellar remnants, including white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; extrasolar planetary systems; galaxies and quasars; dark matter and dark energy; the Big Bang and the fate of the universe; and life in the universe. This course is not intended for physical science or engineering majors.
I want graduates of this course to begin to understand the following:
| Textbook | Discovering the Universe, N.F. Comins & W.J. Kaufmann III, W.H. Freeman, 2014 (ISBN-10: 1464140863). The newest edition is the 10th edition, but the 9th and 8th edition are also fine for this course. You are not required to purchase this book, but it is useful for you to study the material covered in this course. |
|---|---|
| i>clicker | Participation in lectures requires the use of an i>clicker (i>clicker, i>clicker2, or i>clicker+) remote. Please make sure you register your i>clicker using the i>clicker link on the course webpage. |
| Course Webpage | Located on Illinois Compass2G |
| Grade Components | Percentage of Overall Grades |
| Weekly Homework (best 10 of 11) | 20% |
| Observing & Planetarium Reports (best 2 of 3) | 10% |
| Online Lab Exercises ( | 20% |
| i>clicker Questions (~100) | 5% |
| Midterms (2) | 20% |
| Cumulative Final | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
Grading Scale:
A+: 98-100%; A: 93-97%; A-: 90-92%
B+: 87-89%; B: 83-86%; B-: 80-82%
C+: 77-79%; C: 73-76%; C-: 70-72%
D+: 67-69%; D: 63-66%; D-: 60-62%
F: 59% and below
I reserve the right to make the grading slightly easier, but will not raise these thresholds. Final grades will be rounded to the nearest whole number (that is, 89.5% becomes 90% and an A-). Since the grade "cutoffs" are tentatively set at the beginning of the semester, you are not competing with your fellow students for a high position on a "final curve." It is in principle possible for everyone to get an "A" grade in this class.
Weekly Homework: There will be 11 online homework assignments over the course of the semester (about 1 per week); your best 10 scores will be counted for your overall course grade. The homework questions are mostly multiple choices and you will submit your answers using compass 2G. After your first submission, you will be able to review your answers. You can then resubmit your answers BEFORE its due date, and you will be credited with the higher score.
Note: Late submissions of homework assignments will not be accepted, but your lowest score will be dropped.
Observing and Planetarium Sessions: You are required to attend and complete reports for three observing activities for this course (your lowest grade will be dropped):
Detail instructions of the observing and planetarium sessions are posted on the course webpage.
Note: Every semester many students put these activities off until the last day and then find the planetarium is sold out or the weather is cloudy. GO EARLY. If you are unavailable for an activity due to unavoidable circumstances, see the instructor immediately.
Online Lab Exercises:
To enhance your understanding of particular
topics in the course, you will be assigned to complete five
four online laboratory
exercises over the course of the semester:
You are encouraged to work on the labs with partners (up to 3 students working together in a group), and a group lab report turned in.
i>clickers: In order to provide an environment more conducive to participation and interaction, each student will have an i>clicker remote with which to respond to "concept-check" questions during lecture. Each question is worth 2 points, 1 point for attempting the question and 1 point for a correct answer, up to a 100 point maximum total for the semester. There will be about 100 assessed i>clicker questions over the semester (i.e., about 200 available points ). Therefore, you can be absent or forget your i>clicker a few days without negatively affecting your grade.
To receive i>clicker credit, your i>clicker must be registered to your NetID. Information on registering your i>clicker to your NetID can be found on the course webpage.
Exams: There will be two non-cumulative midterm exams for this course, and a comprehensive final exam. The two midterms will be given during regularly scheduled class meetings and will consist of about 40 multiple-choice questions. The final exam will be given during the scheduled final exam period for ASTR 100. Exam dates are posted in the class schedule at the end of this syllabus.
You may bring one (1) note sheet to each exam. The note sheet must be on an 8.5"×11" (letter-sized) piece of paper, and you may use both sides of the sheet. Also bring: pencils, a calculator, and your official university identification card (to show upon request). No electronic devices (e.g. smart phones) other than a calculator are allowed during the exams.
General: This course will follow all policies in the Student Code.
Attendance: You are expected to attend lectures. I will cover material in class that will not always be in the readings, and the lecture material will be included on the exams. Class time is the most valuable for you if you come prepared, ready to actively engage the material.
Late Work: Late homework assignments will not be accepted. Observing/planetarium reports and online labs turned in after 5pm on the due date will be assessed a 10% penalty per day (excepting weekends and University holidays). For a well-documented excuse (such as illness) the penalty may be waived at the instructor's discretion.
Exam Absences: Make-up exams will only be offered if the student has good reason, in accordance with sections 1-501, 1-502, and 3-201—3-204 of the Student Code. Advance notice and documentation are required for approved school events (e.g., athletic competition), religious observances, and other planned absences. In case of unforeseen circumstances (e.g., illness), contact the Emergency Dean and request an Absence Letter to document the exam absence.
Personal Issues: To insure that concerns are properly addressed from the beginning, students who require reasonable accommodations to participate in this class are asked to see the instructor as soon as possible. All accommodations will follow the procedures as stated in sections 1-107 and 1-110 of the Student Code.
Working with others: Discussing course material with your classmates is encouraged, but each student is expected to do his/her own work.
Academic Integrity: Any instance of academic dishonesty (including cheating and plagiarism) will be handled in accordance with sections 1-401—1-406 of the Student Code.
Rules of Etiquette: For the benefit of your fellow students and your instructors, you are expected to follow these basic rules of decorum.
Electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and the like, are tools that can enhance the classroom but also can be disruptive if misused. I will allow the use of such devices in class for the purpose of taking notes only. But you are expected to pay attention in class, and these devices can be very distracting; you are expected to use them only for note-taking.
Students must respect the classroom environment. Unless specifically directed by the instructor, students shall refrain from sending email and instant messages, or from engaging in other activities (reading non-course materials, engaging in private conversations and so on) that disrespect the classroom environment and learning conditions for others.
Out of fairness, the same grading standards will be used for all students in the course, and all students will be responsible for all assignments and all lecture material. Those students who register late are welcome, but join the course with the understanding that they are responsible for the material covered before they joined the course. The policy of dropping the lowest homework assignment allows late registering students to avoid penalty on any assignment missed before joining the course, as long as the remaining assignments are completed.
| Week | Dates | Topics | Reading | Homework Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan. 21—23 | Overview, Sky and Its Motion | Ch. 1 | |
| 2 | Jan. 26—30 | Seasons, Phases of the Moon | Ch. 1 | |
| 3 | Feb. 2—6 | Eclipses, Planetary Motion | Ch. 1, 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Feb. 9—13 | Gravity, Nature of Light | Ch. 2—4 | 2 |
| 5 | Feb. 16—20 | Optics and Telescopes | Ch. 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Feb. 23—27 | Solar System: Overview | Ch. 5, 6 | |
| 7 | Mar. 2—6 | Solar System Planets | Ch. 6—8 | 4 |
| 8 | Mar. 9—13 | Vagabonds of the Solar System, Exoplanets | Ch. 5, 9 | 5 |
| 9 | Mar. 16—20 | The Sun | Ch. 10 | 6 |
| — | Mar. 23—27 | Spring break | ||
| 10 | Mar. 30—Apr. 3 | Characterizing Stars | Ch. 11 | 7 |
| 11 | Apr. 6—10 | Birth and Death of Stars | Ch. 12, 13 | |
| 12 | Apr. 13—17 | White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, Black Holes | Ch. 13, 14 | 8 |
| 13 | Apr. 20—24 | Galaxies, Galaxy Clusters and Superclusters | Ch. 15, 16 | 9 |
| 14 | Apr. 27—May 1 | Active Galaxies, Cosmology I | Ch. 17, 18 | 10 |
| 15 | May 4—6 | Cosmology II, Extraterrestrial Life | Ch. 18, 19 | 11 |
Note: Lecture schedule subject to change depending on class progress.
| Date | Exam/Report |
| Feb. 11 | Lunar Phases Lab Due |
| Feb. 23 | Planetarium Report Due |
| Feb. 25 | Midterm #1 (in class) |
| Mar. 2 | Planetary Orbits Lab Due |
| Extrasolar Planets Lab Due | |
| Apr. 8 | Midterm #2 (in class) |
| Night Observing Report Due | |
| Apr. 15 | Hertzsprung-Russell Diagrams Lab Due |
| Solar Observing Report Due | |
| May 13 / May 15 | Final Exam* |