Classes	MF 11:30-12:20, 1420 BPS. Tu 8:00-10:00 pm, N012 BCC.
Instructor	Mr. Ed Loh, 3260 BPS, 884-5612, Loh@msu.edu
Office hours	MF10:00-11:00; M 12:30-1:30.
Teaching assistant	Mr. Kraig Andrews, andre220@msu.edu
Textbook	Cosmic Perspective, 6^th ed., Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voit, 2010. (Older editions are OK. The sections numbers for the reading assignments are based on the 6^th edition.)
Reference	Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, Carroll & Ostlie, 2007 or 1997.
Web	angel.msu.edu

Classes				Topic & Reading
	7		Jan	Physics of the Solar System.
		11		Inventory of the Solar System¾Terrestrial planets. §9
	14	18	H01A01	Jovian planets. §11
		25T1	H02 A02	Moons & Rings, Roche’s condition.
	28			Roche’s condition.
		1T2	Feb H03 A03	Asteroids. §12
	4			Asteroids families.
		8T3	H04 A04	Formation of the solar system. §8
	11			Comet tails. Magnetic fields, p. 482-483.
		15T4	H05 A05	Comet tails. Pluto. §12.3. Kuiper belt & Oort Cloud. p. 232, §12.2-12.3
	18			2-body orbits. §4.4
		22T5	H06 A06	2-body orbits.
	25	1T6	Mar H07 A07
	11	15T7	H08 A08	Formation of the Oort Cloud. Fernandez
	18	22T8	H09 A09
	25	29 T9	H10 A10	Formation of Jovian planets. Formation of the Kuiper belt. Levinson et al., “origins” in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt
	1		Apr	Formation of the Kuiper Belt .
		5T10	H11A11	Discovery of extra-solar planets. §13.
	8	12T11	H12 A12	MayorQueloz
	15	19T12	H13A13	Population of exo-planets Remarkable exo-planetary systems. PlanetsOrbitingHD10180. 3SuperEarths. HARPS
	22			Kepler Mission Kepler11
		26		Mission Stardust, Comet Wild 2
				Final exam, Tues., 30 April, 08:00-10:00pm, BPS1420 (old time)

Labs		Topic
8	Jan	Lab notebook. Tools of research. Lab notebook checklist.
15		Preparation for first observations on the MSU 24-in Telescope. Coordinate systems.
22		Naked-eye observations. No meeting. Notebooks due in 3260 by 4:00pm
29		Speed of light. (CLEA)
5	Feb	Star spectra. (CLEA).
12		Telescopes (Meet in 1420)
19		Charge-coupled detectors. (Meet in 1420) Lab exercise
26		Hubble’s Law (CLEA) Lab exercise
12	Mar	Color-magnitude diagram (CLEA) Lab exercise Spreadsheet
19		Errors (CLEA) Lab exercise Spreadsheet
26		No meeting. Spend the time doing observations of the moon, which are due 4/16.
2	Apr	Imaging surveys and software for displaying images. N012 BCC. Bring clickers. Lab Exercise
9		Telescopes in space. N012 BCC. Bring clickers. Lab exercise
16		Prepare paper on the period of the moon. Meet in 1420. Description of project
23		Moon paper due in 3260 by 4:00. No meeting.

· Learning goals

o What is a science? Astronomy is not a book of facts to be learned. Besides the facts of the astronomical phenomena and the scientific explanations, astronomy is also a practice having certain skills. The key skills of science are interpreting data, making arguments, and devising tests. To “do science,” we will retrace a few discoveries by examining the data and interpreting the evidence.

o Astronomy content. Characteristics of planets and minor bodies. Formation of the solar system. Planets outside of the solar system.

o Observing. This part of AST 208 is an introduction to making, reducing, and understanding astronomical observations. We will keep a lab notebook as professional scientists do. We will also discuss basic astronomical web resources, such as the Astrophysics Data System.

· Grading. The course grade will be based on pre-class question sets (5%), in-class exercises (10%), homework (0%), tests (57%), and final exam (28%). Your three lowest pre-class scores, two lowest exercise scores, and lowest test score will be dropped. You may drop one of the labs except for the observing labs. The course grade for the entire course will be based on the lecture part (67%) and the lab part (33%).

o Preclass questions are on angel. They are due at 9:00am on the day of class.

o The in-class exercises use i-clickers.

§ Register your clicker at iclicker.com. If the identification number has been rubbed off, you may register it in class, which does not require your reading the number. If you registered your i-clicker for another class, you do not have to register again.

§ If you forget your i-clicker, you may write your answers on paper and turn them in at the end of class. You may do this no more than twice a term.

o You may work together on your homework assignments. Answers will be posted on the day the homework is due.

o If you must attend a university sponsored event or you are sick, you may be excused with a note from the person in charge or your doctor.

o The weekly tests will be given during the first 12 minutes of class. The tests must be taken on the scheduled dates. If you miss a test for an excused reason, your average will have fewer tests.

· Observing at the MSU Telescope. You will need to organize in teams of 4 to observe at the MSU Telescope. One member of your team needs to have a car to drive to the telescope. Teaching assistant Kraig Andrews, andre220@msu.edu, will help you with the observations. He will schedule the observations with a doodle poll. You must be at the telescope at your scheduled time if the weather is clear.

· Ast 208 buddy. Doing science is a social and cooperative venture. Find an Ast 208 buddy with whom you can work on Ast208. If you get stuck, your buddy may help. If you think you understand a concept, explain it to your buddy to see if he/she thinks your explanation is sensible and clear. Difficult concepts become clear with discussion.