Astronomy

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PHYS 1403 – Planetary Astronomy
PHYS 1404 – Stellar and Galactic Astronomy (12 Week)

Prerequisites: none
The courses are laboratory Physical Science courses.

For more information:
Contact Dr. Joseph Mills in S-220 or call 281-756-5672.
http://jmills-alvincc.blogspot.com

Physics 1403:
Planetary Astronomy
This introductory course includes:

Module 1	Basic material on the history of astronomy, physics of planetary motion, the nature of light, operation of telescopes.	[Click PHOTOS to ENLARGE ]
Module 2	We consider the origin of the solar system and contrast it with other extra-solar planetary systems.
Module 3	We explore the terrestrial planets, their similarities and differences, and their evolution over the live of the solar system.
Module 4	Explores the Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) and their moons, Pluto, the Kuiper Belt objects and comets.
Special attention is placed on recent discoveries and problems in the planetary sciences. The laboratory portion of this class includes instruction on telescope operation and observing techniques. We will observe with a variety of telescopes including the 36” telescope at the George Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park. The lab includes observing the planets and a variety of exercises in observational astronomy.

Physics 1404:
Stellar & Galactic Astronomy
Physics 1404 is an introduction to stellar and galactic astronomy and is divided into the modules below:

Module 1	Basic material on the history of astronomy, physics of planetary motion, light, and telescopes.
Module 2	This module covers the Sun, properties of stars, clusters of stars, and binary star systems. It includes a discussion of how stars are formed in large molecular clouds, and the nature of the interstellar medium, the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, evolution of stars, their old age and deaths.
Module 3	We will discuss our Milky Way Galaxy and other galaxies in our local group and nearby clusters of galaxies, the discovery of and advances in galactic structure, quasars, and cosmology. The expansion of the universe, dark matter, dark energy and current-day cosmology will be included.
The lab includes observing the stars, nebulae, galaxies, planets, and a variety of exercises in observational astronomy. We will observe with a variety of telescopes including the 36” telescope at the George Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park.