Astro 105 Summer 2024

             The Stars and Galaxies

             IU Indianapolis

                    bwoodahl@iu.edu

                    (Don't Use Canvas to contact me, use email link)

                    Office: LD 156-S, 278-9244

                    Class: Online for the Recorded Video Lectures, In-Person Exams/Quizzes/TopHat: IUI Campus in IO 102 (aka Innovation Hall Room 102)

                    http://woodahl.physics.indianapolis.iu.edu/Astro105Summer/

                    Is the University open/closed today?

Week 1 Video Lectures and Images

• "Introduction to the Sun" #1 Video Lecture

• The Big Picture (actually it's a somewhat small picture)

• Examples of Some Big Numbers

• Astronomy, the Oldest of the Sciences, 5000 Years Old: Stonehenge

• Approaching Modernity: Galileo Galilei's 1610 AD Notebook Page (Who Needs Computers?)

• Our Sun (oh was it angry when we took its picture)

• Temperature: Simply a Measurement of Particle Velocity

• "Kelvin & Helmholtz Theory, Sun's Exterior" #2 Video Lecture

• Authors of the ill-fated: chemical reactions due to gravitational collapse theory, of Kelvin and Helmholtz

• Sunspot Formations

• Magnetic Field Lines Trap Moving Charged Particles (Thus They Spiral)

• Solar Prominences (Filaments)

• Solar Flare

• Coronal Mass Ejection (Orange Disc is Photosphere, Red Disc is Chromosphere, X-Ray Photography)

• "Proton-Proton Chain" #3 Video Lecture

• Atoms: The Building Blocks of Nature

• Water Molecule: Two Hydrogen Atoms and One Oxygen Atom

• The 4 Fundamental Interactions (Forces)

• The 4 Fundamental Forces Occur Only at Moderately Low Temperatures

• Nuclear Reactions: Fission and Fusion

• Sun's Proton-Proton Chain Fusion Reaction (4 Protons Produce Helium + Energy)

• Details of the Proton-Proton Chain

• Proton-Proton Chain in Action

• Sun In Hydrostatic Equilibrium

• "The Solar Neutrino Problem" #4 Video Lecture

• Sun's Inner Structure (Layers Not Necessarily To Scale)

• Neutrino (Artistic Rendition)

• Homestake Neutrino Detector in South Dakota

• Ray Davis, 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics for the Detection of Cosmic Neutrinos During 1960's

• Quarks Fundamental Particles, Three Quarks in Every Proton and Neutron

• "The Physics of Light" #5 Video Lecture

• Einstein (in 1904): Speed Of Light is the "Speed Limit of Our Universe"

• Light Waves Possess Wavelength and Frequency

• Visible Light is a Small Part of the Entire Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Isaac Newton (in 1670): White Light Contains All the Visible Colors (Visible Frequencies)

• Duality of Light: Light Is Both a Wave and a Particle

• Wave Aspect of Light: Young's Interference Patterns

• Particle Aspect of Light: Einstein's Photoelectric Effect

• James Maxwell (in 1860): Father of the Famous Maxwell Equations Governing the Behavior of Light

• Blackbody Radiators Produce Signature Intensity Profiles

• Wilhelm Wien (in 1893): Developed Theory (Wien's Law) for the Brightest Color of a Blackbody Radiator

Important Dates

• Exam 1 (in-person): Monday, May 28 from 11:00 AM to Noon at IUI Campus in IO 105 (aka Innovation Hall Room 105)

• Exam 2 (online): Monday, June 11 from 11:00 AM to Noon

• Optional Exam 3 (online): Monday, June 24 from 11:00 AM to Noon

Weighting

• Exams (Using the best 2 out of the three): 100 %

Exam Information

• Exam 1 taken in-person in IO 105 (aka Innovation Hall Room 105).

• The best two scores of the three exams are used (none are comprehensive).

• Scores will be posted online to Canvas.

• Students need not take last exam, if they are satisfied with their scores on the first two exams.

Grades

• Standard grading percentages are employed (70% and above is C, 80% and above is B, 90% and above is A)

• There is (unadvertised) curving on the C range and to a lesser degree, some curving on the B and A ranges.

Official Syllabus

• Syllabus (PDF).   Take with a grain of salt, mostly a formality. This web page is your best source for information regarding the course.

Amazon.com Links for Previous Textbooks (old)

• The Cosmic Perspective: Stars and Galaxies (7th Edition)

• The Cosmic Perspective, Both Volumes (7th Edition)

• The Cosmic Perspective, Both Volumes (6th Edition)

• Amazon.com Textbook Rentals

Links to the Optional Textbook (Summer 2020 Only)

• Textbook purchase is totally optional.

• Universe: Stars and Galaxies, Sixth Ed, 2019, Freedman; Geller; Kaufmann (paperback and loose-leaf)

• Universe: Stars and Galaxies, Sixth Ed, 2019, Freedman; Geller; Kaufmann (eTEXT)

Imagining the Tenth Dimension

• Many thanks to Ryan Bertram (Astro A100 student), who introduced me to this neat YouTube video (courtesy of Rob Bryanton, Canadian author) that discusses the ten possible dimensions of our universe.

• Imagining the Tenth Dimension

Gravity Simulator

• PhET's page that demonstrates elements of gravity.

• PhET Gravity Simulations

Sizes (Orders of Magnitude)

• Many thanks to Elizabeth Potter (Astro A105 student), who showed me this neat webpage highlighting the relative sizes from the Local Group down to Quarks (and the corresponding orders of magnitude, or powers of ten)

• Secret Worlds: The Universe Within

Excellent Beginner's Telescope for General Astronomy

• Orion SpaceProbe 130ST Equatorial Reflector

• Other Telescopes Available in the Astro 100 Store

• Texts Also Available in the Astro 100/105 Store

FYI (and Just For Fun)

• Big Stig

• That's A Nice One, I Made That

• Top Gear

• Hans Stuck Around Nurburgring

• Is Newton's Second Law Correct at Small Accelerations?

• Top Gear's Review of GTI W12

• Rossi And a Yard of Bricks

• Mustangs and Corvettes Pray That They Do Not See This Dub At The Track (Warning: Contains Expletives)

• MESSENGER's Color-Enhanced Imagery of Mercury

• Our Solar System Might Be Rare

• Make Room For MakeMake

• String Theory: The Myth Of Time

• Video Images from 2008 Indy MotoGP

• The Official MotoGP.com

• Latest "Crash.net" News

• MotoGPod

• RideOnTwo.com

• Latest Yamaha Racing News

• MotoGP at Indy

• The Old, Old Server

• Thanks for the new Hummer! (I need to get in there and get those windows washed.)

• F1 and MotoGP Technology Available Today in the Showroom

• DeLorean (in street mode) Side Profile

• Mobile Proton Accelerator Pack

• Time-Elapsed Solar Prominence

• Plage Cloud

• Rhubarb Pie

• Mr. Weinberg (pic 1)

• Mr. Weinberg (pic 2)

• Mr. Weinberg (pic 3)

• Mr. Weinberg (pic 4)

• Mr. Weinberg (pic 5)

• Mr. Weinberg (pic 6)

• Prominences, Filaments, Plages

• Wave

• Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum

• EM Spectrum and relative sizes

• EM Doppler Shift

• White Light is All the Colors

• Photon Absorption and Emission

• Hydrogen Spectra

• Blackbody Spectral Profiles

Physics At Noblesville High

• Physics Demo at Noblesville High School

Department of Physics, IU Indianapolis - Updated on May 10, 2025 at 1:30 PM EDT