A study of the night sky primarily for non-science majors. Provides a brief history of astronomy through Newton. Topics include the properties of the sun, earth, moon, planets, asteroids, meteors …
A study of stars, star formation, and evolution primarily for non-science majors. Topics include light, atoms, and modern observing technologies; origin of the chemical elements; supernovae, pulsars, neutron stars, and …
An independent laboratory class for non-science majors, meeting at night, in which students learn how to observe the night sky, use a telescope, and take digital images of the sky. …
Alien worlds orbiting other stars were the subject of speculation going back to ancient times, and were first detected in the 1990s. Today, thousands of extrasolar planets are known and …
This introductory astronomy course for non-science majors deals with harmful, or potentially harmful, astronomical phenomena such as asteroid/comet impacts, supernovae, gamma ray bursts, solar storms, cosmic rays, black holes, galaxy …
An exploration of the unsolved mysteries in the universe and the limits of our knowledge for non-science majors. The class emphasizes the nature of scientific endeavor, and explores the boundaries …
From ancient Babylon to modern cosmology, nearly every culture on Earth has stories and myths of creation. It is a universal human desire to understand from where we came. In …
Black holes are stellar remnants that are so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape their gravitational pull. Nevertheless, systems that contain these "dark stars" are among the brightest …
For first- and second-year students considering Astronomy/Astronomy-Physics as a major, or current A/A-P majors. Faculty will present ongoing research to introduce students to both the subject matter and the required …
Primarily for science majors. A thorough discussion of the basic concepts and methods of solar system, stellar, galactic, and extragalactic astronomy and astrophysics with an emphasis on physical principles. Prerequisite/corequisite: …