Indexed summary of course topics

Available Notes:

Lecture 1 - Introduction and Overview (1/15/96)
Lecture 2 - The Sky (1/17/96)
Lecture 3 - The Sky (continued) (1/19/96)
Lecture 4 - The Sky and Cycles (1/22/96)
Lecture 5 - The Cycles of the Sun and Planets (1/24/96)
Lecture 6 - The Cycles of the Moon (1/26/96)
Lecture 7 - Angular Diameter and Lunar Eclipses (1/29/96)
Lecture 8 - Solar Eclipses & Greek Astronomy (1/31/96)
Lecture 9 - Later Greek Astronomy (2/2/96)
Lecture 10 - Ptolemy and Copernicus (2/5/96)
Lecture 11 - The Copernican Revolution (2/7/96)
Lecture 12 - Tycho and Kepler (2/9/96)
Lecture 13 - Galileo (2/12/96)
Lecture 14 - Midterm #1 (no lecture) (2/14/96)
Lecture 15 - Newton and Gravitation (2/16/96)
Lecture 16 - Gravitation and Light (2/19/96)
Lecture 17 - Light and Optics (2/21/96)
Lecture 18 - Telescopes (2/23/96)
Lecture 19 - Atoms and Light (2/26/96)
Lecture 20 - Atomic Spectra (2/28/96)
Lecture 21 - Spectral Classes of Stars (3/1/96)
Lecture 22 - The Sun (3/4/96)
Lecture 23 - Stars (3/6/96)
Lecture 24 - The Interstellar Medium (3/18/96)
Lecture 25 - Molecular Clouds and Star Formation (3/20/96)
Lecture 26 - Protostars and Stellar Energy (3/22/96)
Lecture 27 - Stellar Structure (3/25/96)
Lecture 28 - Midterm #2 (no lecture) (3/27/96)
Lecture 29 - Stellar Evolution (3/29/96)
Lecture 30 - Supernovae (4/1/96)
Lecture 31 - Neutron Stars and Pulsars (4/3/96)
Lecture 32 - Black Holes and Relativity (4/5/96)
Lecture 33 - Our Galaxy (4/8/96)
Lecture 34 - Galactic Structure (4/10/96)
Lecture 35 - Formation of Our Galaxy (4/12/96)
Lecture 36 - Galaxies (4/15/96)
Lecture 37 - Active Galaxies and Gravitational Lenses (4/17/96)
Lecture 38 - Large Scale Structure (4/19/96)
Lecture 39 - Cosmology (4/22/96)
Lecture 40 - The Early Universe (4/24/96)
Lecture 41 - The Very Early Universe (4/26/96)

Problem Set #1 (due Fri 2/2/96 5pm)
Problem Set #2 (due Fri 2/16/96 5pm)
Problem Set #3 (due Mon 2/26/96 5pm)
Problem Set #4 (due Mon 3/4/96 5pm)
Problem Set #5 (due Mon 3/18/96 5pm)
Problem Set #6 (due Mon 3/25/96 5pm)
Problem Set #7 (due Mon 4/8/96 5pm)
Problem Set #8 (due Mon 4/15/96 5pm)
Problem Set #8.5 (due Fri 4/19/96 5pm)
Problem Set #9 (due Mon 4/29/96 5pm)

Here are some Sample Midterm 1 Problems
Here are some Review Topics for Midterm 1
Here are some Review Topics for Midterm #2
Here are some Review Topics for Final Exam
A list of possible Extra Credit Projects

These "lecture notes" are not meant as a replacement for reading the textbook, or for your own lecture notes taken during class. These notes are intended as a supplement to or a complementary view of what was covered during class, and to provide interactive links to related material on the internet. For the most part, the hard-core scientific details are presented in the textbook and will not be repeated here. These notes are intended to trigger thought and discussion of the ideas presented. Please consider these notes as such!

Sprinkled throughout the hypertext are some thought questions (some of which may appear in problem sets). These are here so you can get an idea of the sort of critical thinking that I expect in the course. There are outlines of the topics covered in the lecture at the beginning of each of the lecture notes, followed by some more detailed text. I have also included hyperlinks to related documents on the Web, but some of these links may be slow to download in the daytime hours (especially those in England with addresses .uk).

I have undertaken this exercise as an experiment in the use of the World Wide Web as an educational tool in the teaching of astronomy at Penn. Feel free to e-mail comments on the content, presentation, and general usefullness of this on-line hypertext. This is an adventure for me as much as it is for you, and I think there is much to be gained through the use of class supplements such as this.

I will be fleshing out these initially sparse notes as the term progresses. If there doesnt seem like there is much to them at first, be patient! I'm working on it ...

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