Frontiers In Astronomy

Course Outline: (with links to reading lists and approximate number of lectures)

1. The New Astronomies (6)
2. New Instrumentation and Surveys (3)
3. The Inner Solar System (4)
4. The Outer Solar System (5)
5. Other Solar Systems and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life (3)
6. The Sun and Other Stars (6)
7. Normal Galaxies (3)
8. Active Galaxies and Quasars (5)
9. The Universe (9)

Text: Dathe, David, ed., Annual Editions: Astronomy 98/99 (Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, Guilford, CT, 1998). You will also wish to use the Ruben Salazar Library, including the Reserve Book Room. Reading lists, linked to from the above course outline, include readings in the text, which is a compendium of reprinted articles from periodicals, in additional periodicals, and on the web.

Assignments: There will be five assignments distributed over the semester. Besides encouraging you to write clearly, these assignments will acquaint you with modern information-gathering techniques. Each will cover a portion of the course outline and will consist of a few essay questions or a short paper. You are to present one of your assignments orally to the class. For that assignment you need hand in only a one-page outline and a bibliography. These assignments will each determine 20% of your grade. Check your standing.

Other lectures: Each Monday at 4:00 p.m., from September 14 through November 30, the Department of Physics and Astronomy will present a free public lecture in its renowned "What Physicists Do" series. You will find these lectures a valuable supplement to your course work, as they will help you to know what is currently happening in astronomy and related fields.

Observing: This is not an observing class (you may take Astronomy 231 Introductory Observational Astronomy if you wish to learn observing), but you are invited to attend and to bring anyone you wish to the Public Viewing Nights at the SSU Observatory.

Office hours: My office is Darwin 144, phone 664-2594. I am there most of the time. Official office hours are Mondays 1:00 - 1:50, Wednesdays 2:00 - 2:50, Thursdays 12:00 - 12:50, and Fridays 1:00 - 1:50. E-mail to joe.tenn@sonoma.edu is an excellent way to contact me. Messages may also be left in my mailbox in Darwin 125. If you have any problems which affect your performance in this course, please contact me. Do not stop attending classes.

General Education: This course may be used to meet general education requirements in area B3. It may be used to meet upper division general education if (and only if) you will have completed 60 units by the end of this semester.