Note that the lecture material may vary, but the assignment dates are fixed. Visit this webpage to see updates to the topics.
| Date | Topics | Reading | Assignment Due
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| Aug 24 | Astro-Disasters | Syllabus |
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| Aug 26 | Poor Pluto | |
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| Aug 28 | Meteors | |
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| Aug 31 | Asteroids/Comets | |
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| Sept 2 | Star Formation: Molecular Clouds | |
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| Sept 4 | Star Formation: Rise of Rocks | | HW1
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| Sept 7 | Labor Day | |
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| Sept 9 | The Atmosphere and Meteors | |
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| Sept 11 | Dino Killer | |
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| Sept 14 | Jupiter in Peril | |
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| Sept 16 | Asteroid Mitigation | |
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| Sept 18 | Why does the Sun Shine? | | HW3
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| Sept 21 | Why is the Sun Yellow? | |
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| Sept 23 | Stellar Temperatures | |
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Sept 25 | Exam 1 | |
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| Sept 28 | Computer Labs I | |
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| Sept 30 | Aging Sun | |
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| Oct 2 | Dying Sun | | HW4
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| Oct 5 | Computer Labs II | |
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| Oct 7 | Cornona Mass Ejections | |
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| Oct 9 | Supernova: The End of Massive Stars | | HW5
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| Oct 12 | Computer Labs III | |
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| Oct 14 | Boom, Supernovae | |
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| Oct 16 | Killer Supernova | | HW6
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| Oct 19 | Neutron stars and black holes | |
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| Oct 21 | Gamma Ray Bursts | |
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| Oct 23 | Killer Gamma Ray Bursts | | HW7
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| Oct 26 | Einstein and You | |
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| Oct 28 | Black Holes Don't Suck | |
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Oct 30 | Exam 2 | |
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| Nov 2 | Online Discussions | |
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| Nov 4 | Online Discussions | |
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| Nov 6 | Online Discussions | | HW 2 & HW8
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| Nov 9 | Spaghettification | | Asteroid Lab & Night Obs
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| Nov 11 | Compact Objects in the Solar System | |
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| Nov 13 | The Milky Way | | HW9
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| Nov 16 | Galaxies | |
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| Nov 18 | When Galaxies Collide | |
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| Nov 20 | Cosmology and the Origin of the Universe | | HW10
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| Nov 23 | Thanksgiving Break | |
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| Nov 25 | Thanksgiving Break | |
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| Nov 27 | Thanksgiving Break | |
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| Nov 30 | The Big Bang | |
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| Dec 2 | The Big Rip And the End of the Universe | |
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| Dec 4 | Active Galaxies & Quasars | | HW11
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| Dec 7 | ET Life | |
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| Dec 9 | Alien Threats | |
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Dec. 15 | Final Exam (1:30-4:30pm) | |
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