PHYS 131

Survey of the Universe

Fall 2023

Instructor: Professor Gordon Richards  Lecture: TTh 11:00-12:20pm; Room: Disque 108
Office: 812 Disque Hall Phone: 215-895-2713
e-mail: gtr25 at Drexel domain (subj: PHYS131) Office Hours: Thurdsay 2-3pm
Text: The Essential Cosmic Perspective (9th Ed), Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voit http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~gtr/teaching/phys131/

Course Description:
Physics course descriptions, credit hours, and enrollment restrictions can be found at this link. "Survey of the Universe" provides an overview of modern astronomy, including the scientific method; telescopes; stars and star clusters; stellar evolution; galaxies and the large-scale structure of the universe; and the Big Bang. It also includes visits to a local observatory.

Course Purpose:
"Survey of the Universe" is just that--a broad-brush course covering topics from seasons and lunar phases to stars to galaxies to the history of the universe--essentially all of astronomy in 10 weeks! This is a three-credit elective course that is not required for any major or minor. While it is designed for students that might not take another science course at Drexel, it also is appropriate for STEM students. It is what many other universities would call "Astronomy 101" (except that students get the added bonus of having a physics course on their transcript!). Ultimately the purpose is to give students an understanding of how application of the Scientific Method has enabled humankind to learn about the universe from near to far.

Prerequisites:
There are no prerequisites for PHYS 131.

Expected Learning Outcomes:
This course will address the Drexel Learning Priorities: Communication, Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, Self-Directed Learning, and Technology Use. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Course Materials:

  1. Drexel Learn (https://learn.dcollege.net):
    Drexel Learn will be used as our course homepage. There you can find our syllabus (this web page), the course schedule, your grades, and other important course documents and resources. Please contact your instructor immediately if you are having trouble accessing/navigating our course in Drexel Learn.

  2. Textbooks:
    We will be using: The Essential Cosmic Perspective (9th Ed) by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voit. It is an abbreviated version of their longer book (with less math). Note that we will be using the version that comes with the Modified Mastering Astronomy software. You should probably NOT buy it from Amazon as that will either come with no Mastering Astronomy access code or a code that is out of date, in which case you will need to spend more money to get the access code. I recommend following these instructions. If you need it, the eText ISBN number (6 months access) is 9780137343072. If you want a physical copy, then follow the instructions for Mastering and you can add a loose leaf copy for another $50. If you order through the bookstore, the rental edition is $75 (ISBN:9780135795033), but you'll still need Mastering too.

    Students are strongly encouraged to at least skim through the readings for each lecture before class in addition to reading the material in detail after the lecture.

    In class, we will make use of Prather et al.'s Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy (3rd Ed.), but it is NOT required.

  3. Mastering Astronomy:
    Please Read. Even if you have not bought the book yet, I need you to have acccess to Mastering Astronomy from Day 1. You will be provided some time in class to do so if you haven't done it already. Access is free for the first 14 days, so don't worry if you aren't sure whether or not you are going to stay in the class. As with purchasing the eText, you will follow these instructions. After you have registered your account (free for 2 weeks) or logged in to an existing account, at the bottom of the page it says "Get temporary access". Click on that and you will be ready to go.

    After your initial setup, to access Mastering, please see this link. The Course ID is "richards67663". You will need access to this weekly for homework assgnments.

  4. Access to Socrative:
    In order to make lecture more interactive, I will sometimes make use of Socrative for in-class polling. When I ask questions during class, Socrative allows you to answer these questions in realtime and provides me with the results. Socrative can be used on your laptop by visiting http://www.socrative.com or on your smartphone or tablet by downloading the ``Socrative Student" application from your App Store. Since Socrative will be used during each lecture (for your participation grade - see the Lecture section below for more details), please be sure to have at least one of your electronic devices fully charged for class. Our room name is RICHARDS, and you will need your Drexel ID Number to sign in.

  5. An internet-capable device
    You must be able to connect to the internet with some type of mobile device (laptop, tablet, smart- phone, etc.) during every lecture to complete the in-class Socrative questions.

Assignments and Assessments:

  1. Lectures and Class Participation:
    We will meet for lecture twice a week for 1 1/2 hours. Lectures will consist primarily of information based on the readings. In-class activities (1-2 per lecture) during the lecture will be part of your participation grade (and will count 5% of your final grade). To receive credit for attendance and class participation we often will be using Socrative. Please make yourself an account (free) before the first lecture. The classroom ID will be RICHARDS. Logging in from home or for another person will result in a 0 class participation grade for the quarter. However, you will be allowed to miss 2 lectures without any penalty.

  2. Homework & Quizzes:
    Homework will be given each week on the Mastering Astronomy site (course ID: "richards67663"). The Homework should be done completely on your own as it is meant to prepare you for the Quizzes (and Final Exam). Weekly Quizzes on the previous week's material (reading, lectures, and homework) will be given in the first 5 minutes of lecture every Tuesday. Quizzes will be mostly multiple choice, labeling, matching, true/false, etc. There will be ~9 quizzes during the quarter. I will drop your lowest quiz grade; no make-up quizzes will be given, so don't be late (even by 2-3 minutes) for class on Tuesdays. Homework will be available online from Thursday afternoon until the start of class on Tuesdays.

  3. Telescope Open Houses:
    You are required to attend at least one of Drexel's Telescope Open House events. The events traditionally run the 1st Wednesday of every month at Drexel's Lynch Observatory. In order to receive credit, you must find me to acknowledge your attendance. For specific information on the dates, times, and directions to our Telescope Open Houses, please see Drexel's Lynch Observatory website: http://www.physics.drexel.edu/observatory/index.shtml

  4. Exams:
    Currently no midterm is planned. A (comprehensive) final exam will be given during a time/date to be decided during the exam week. It will be mostly multiple choice, T/F, etc. questions with a few short answer and drawing problems. For the multiple choice and T/F part, your score will be the average of your own score and that of your group. I'll explain more about this in class.

Grading:
10 point scale (90=A-, 80=B-, 70=C-, etc.) using the following weighting:

  • 5% Class Participation (Socrative and group projects during lecture)
  • 5% Observing (telescope open house)
  • 30% Homework
  • 30% Quizzes
  • 30% Final Exam

Students are responsible to monitoring their progress using the online gradebook in Drexel Learn (and not in Mastering Astronomy). It is your responsibility to let me know (in a timely fashion) if I am missing any grades for you.

Office Hours:
Tentatively set for W 3:30-4:30pm and R 2-3pm. I may have to adjust these after the first week of classes. For those that cannot make those days/times, I can arrange for some online office hours in the evening if there is enough demand.

Miscellaneous:

  • If you need extra help ask before the final exam.
  • You need extra help if you won't be happy with your grade (see above).
  • Please don't use e-mail for complicated questions/discussion (e.g., about grading, make-up work, etc.). Come to office hours (or make an appointment) instead.
  • I drop one quiz more as a matter of convience for my bookkeeping (i.e., so that I never have to give make-up quizzes) than for your benefit. I won't distinguish between good reasons for missing a quiz and bad ones. Just make sure that you miss (or fail to prepare for) only one.
  • The same goes for lectures/class participation -- you can miss 2 without any penalty. I don't need to know why.
  • Do not make travel plans for break before the final exam schedule comes out (Week 6). There will be no alternative exam dates.
  • If you are using electronic devices for non-class related activities, you will not receive credit for attending the lecture.

Acadmic Policies:
Students are expected to be familiar with Drexel's policies on
Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, Dishonesty and Cheating: www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/academic_dishonesty.asp,
Course Adding/Dropping: www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/course_drop.asp,
Course Withdrawal: drexel.edu/provost/policies/course-withdrawal,
Incomplete Grades: drexel.edu/provost/policies/incomplete_grades/, and
Grade Appeals: drexel.edu/provost/policies/grade-appeals/.

Students may not copy one another's exams or homeworks. All of these are considered cheating and will be dealt with in the following manner. The first infraction will result in a zero for all parties involved. The second infraction will result in an F for the course and a report to the office of academic affairs.

Student with disabilities requesting accommodations and services at Drexel University need to present a current accommodation verification letter (AVL) to faculty before accommodations can be made. AVL's are issued by the Office of Disability Resources. For additional information, see drexel.edu/disability-resources/support-accommodations/student-family-resources/.

For Health and Counseling needs, students can find further information at
drexel.edu/counselingandhealth/student-health-center/overview/
drexel.edu/counselingandhealth/counseling-center/overview/

Initial Course Participation (ICP): Class attendance is critical to your success as a student. Missing classes may impact your class success and your federal financial aid.

Classroom Etiquette:

At this time, Drexel University has no COVID protocols in place, but we will adhere to any that may be implemented.

Appropriate Use of Course Materials:
It is important to recognize that some or all of the course materials provided to you may be the intellectual property of Drexel University, the course instructor, or others. Use of this intellectual property is governed by Drexel University policies, including the IT-1 Policy.

Briefly, this policy states that all course materials including recordings provided by the course instructor may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or re-posted. Doing so may be considered a breach of this policy and will be investigated and addressed as possible academic dishonesty, among other potential violations. Improper use of such materials may also constitute a violation of the University's Code of Conduct and will be investigated as such.

Finally, changes to the parameters of the course may need to be made during the quarter. In the case of such events, students will be notified by the instructor through their official Drexel e-mail.

If you have read this far, please send the instructor an e-mail (prior to the first lecture) for one unit of extra credit. Please indicate that you are aware that you need both the book and acccess to Mastering Astronomy, that you should only follow the links above to get to Mastering Astronomy (then bookmark it), that the gradebook is on Learn and not in Mastring Astronomy, and that I don't allow make-up quizzes or exams (and that, despite all these rules, it will be a fun and interesting course!).

Topics to be Covered

Week Subject Chapter(s) Reading Learning Outcomes
1 Introduction & Constellations Bennett Chapter 3, Chapter 2, Appendix Sections 3.1, 3.4, 2.1, Appendices H & I 1-L02, 1-L06
2 Earthly Phenomena:
Seasons, Lunar Phases, Eclipses, Tides		 Bennett Chapter 2, Chapter 4 Sections 2.3 (all) and 4.4 (just tides) 1-L03, 1-L04, 1-L05, 5-L02
3 Gravity, Light, Cameras, Telescopes Bennett Chapter 4, Chapter 5 4.4 and 5.0 (105,106) 5.1 (107,108), 5.2 (115,116,118), 5.3 (all) 2-L01, 2-L02, 2-L03, 2-L06
4 Solar System Intro:
Killer Asteroids & Pluto's Exit		 Chapters 6, 9, and 10 6.2, 6.3, 9.1-9.5, 10.1 6-L07, 6-L08; 7-L02, 7-L04, 7-L05
5 The Planets Chapters 7 and 8 parts of 7.1-7.5 and 8.1-8.3 6-L01,L02,L05; 5-L01,L02,L03,L04,L05
6 Stars & Stellar Evolution
We are Stardust		 Chapters 11 and 12 11.1, 11.2 (parts), 11.3, parts of 12.1 and 12.2 8-L04,L05,L06,L07; 9-L02,L03,L04,L05; 10-L04,L05,L06
7 Black Holes Chapters 13 and 14 13.2, 13.3, parts of 14.1-14.4 11-L01,L02,L04,L05; 12-L01-L06
8 Galaxies
Ours and Others		 Chapters 15 and 16 15.1, 15.2 (parts), 15.4, 16.1, 16.2 (parts) 13-L01-L07;14-L01,L04
9 Clusters, Quasars, and "Dark Matter" Chapters 16 and 18 16.3, 16.4, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3 14-L02,L03,L05-L08
10 Cosmology
The Age of the Universe		 Chapters 17 and 18 17.???, 18.4 15-L01-L04,L06,L07

Final Exam:
Monday 11 December, 8am-10am, Disque 108 (bring a charged computer to use for the online portion)

Links

Astronomy Picture of the Day
BAD Astronomy
NASA
How to Buy a Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope Images
James Webb Space Telescope Images
Chandra X-ray Observatory Images

Observing Information

Drexel's Joseph R. Lynch Observatory (our 16 inch Meade telescope)
Heavens Above (for viewing satellites)
Sky & Telescope (the premier astronomy magazine)

Sky Charts

SkyMaps.com
Spring Sky Chart
Summer Sky Chart
Autumn Sky Chart
Winter Sky Chart
Northern Stars Planetarium Observing Resources

Philly-area Public Observing Nights

Note: These are weather dependent events and may be canceled in case of rain or significant cloud cover.

Last Modified: 26 November 2023