Astronomy 102/112:

Introduction to Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe

Professor R. Somerville

Fall 2001

Course Goals Contents of the Universe Basic physics of gravity,

matter, energy and light Telescopes Our Sun and other stars Our Galaxy and other galaxies The Big Bang and dark matter

Course Requirements

two midterms (25 percent each) final exam (25 percent) lab or discussion, homework and

in-class assignments (25 percent) ‘make up’ paper possible attend lecture, think, and ask

questions! minimal math

Office: 821 Dennison Email: rachel@astro.lsa.umich.edu Homepage:

http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~rachel/ Course webpage (syllabus):

http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~rachel/astro112.html

Some Useful Information…

Our Place in the Universe

Our Cosmic Address

The Solar System

Distance Scale of the Planets

The Sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

The Asteroid Belt

JupiterIo

Europa

Ganymede

Callisto

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto (and Charon)

Comet Hale-Bopp

The Closest Stars

Nebulae

Ring Nebula

Orion NebulaHorsehead Nebula

Our Galaxy

Globular Cluster

The Milky Way

The Local Group

Large Magellanic Cloud

Small Magellanic Cloud

M31 –

the Andromeda Galaxy

The Virgo Cluster

M87 giant ellipticalgalaxy

Gravitational Lens

Nearby Spiral Galaxies

Edge-on Spirals

Hubble Deep Field

Distant

Galaxies

Our Cosmic Origins…