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Astronomy 191
First-Year Seminar

Professor: Daniel Wang

M 1:15-2:25p.m., LGRT 123
Office: B-517G LGRT
Phone: 545-2131
Email: wqd@astro.umass.edu
Office Hours: by appointment (or try stopping by the office)
This one credit course is intended primarily for prospective astronomy (or other physical science) majors.  The course will introduce you to what scientific questions underpin astronomy and what astronomers do to answer those questions. We'll begin with a brief introduction to astronomy. We will then have faculty members to talk about their research and their experience as astronomers. We will also have student-led topic discussions. Overall, my goals for this seminar are:
  • To give you some idea about what astronomy is all about and how astronomical research is carried out.
  • To familiarize you with the members of the Astronomy Department.
  • To provide an environment in which you can interact with others interested in astronomy, and thereby create a network of support for your years at U.Mass.
  • To inform you about the Astronomy Major requirements and other relevant options at U.Mass.
Class will meet weekly in the LGRT for a presentations, either on our own or by a member of the Astronomy faculty. Grades for the semester will be based on weekly attendance and on the completion of various assignments. The requirements and expectations will be described during the first class session.

PRELIMINARY COURSE SCHEDULE

Lecture # Date Speaker Title
1 Mon. Sept. 14 Daniel W
 Introduction to this course/Introduction to Astronomy
2 Mon. Sept. 21 Daniel W Introduction to Astronomy
3 Mon. Sept. 28 Daniel W Introduction to Astronomy
4 Mon. Oct. 5 Houjun Mo
 galaxy formation and evolution
-- Mon. Oct. 12 Columbus Day -- No Class
5
Tue. Oct. 13 Monday schedule -- Peter Schloerb
 The Large Millimeter Telescope
6
Mon. Oct. 19 Bill Irvine Astrobiology
7
Mon. Oct. 26 Ron Snell and Labs Introduction to astronomy major and lab tour
8
Mon. Nov. 02 Daniel W High-energy astroophysics
9
Mon. Nov. 9 students/Daniel W special topics
10 Mon. Nov. 16 students/Daniel W special topics
11 Mon. Nov. 23 students/Daniel W special topics
12 Mon. Nov. 30 students/Daniel W special topics
13 Mon. Dec. 07 students/Daniel W special topics

In addition to the Monday meetings, there will also be opportunities for using the telescopes on Orchard Hill, visiting the Amherst Astronomy Association or the Springfield Science Museum, and/or attending lectures and colloquia in the Astronomy department.

Student research and presentations:

Cosmic background radiation (Nov. 9):
Alex Fabian, Ron Mastrolia, and Mary Whitebirch
  • Summary of CMBR itself and explanation of what it is.
  • A history of its discovery; brief biographies of Penzias and Wilson.
  • Discussions of several important facets of CMBR:
     - Visible anisotropies
     - Polarization
     - Radio telescopes
     - Big Bang Theory (ending with any alternative models if there are any credible ones)
  •  A thorough explanation of thermal black body radiation in relation to CMBR.
  •  Any modern/future studies or experiments relating to CMBR, including but not limited to, recent space probes.
Supermassive black holes at centers of galaxies (Nov. 16):
John Karlen, Joseph Lyons, and William (Bill) Dague
working together on AGN and Super-Massive Black Holes.

Life cycle of stars (Nov. 23):
Thomas Ledoux,  Jamie Budynkiewicz, and Cassie Cooley
doing something along the lines of a demonstration that shows why bigger stars have shorter lifespans than smaller stars.

Compact objects (black holes, dwarf stars, and neutron stars) (Nov. 30):
Jamey Unger, Kelsey Aureli, and Alec Harris
finding out how they are made, how long they last, what they are made of, their density, evidence we have of them, etc.

Exoplanets (Dec. 7):
Nate Brunetti, Aymen Elgadi, and Inaam Khoury
researching the types of exoplanets that have been found and how they are categorized, what methods there are for finding them, and some of the theories and searches for life on other planets.