We're going to look at some astronomical history, some basic science, the Solar System, stars and galaxies along with how we find out about them. You might be amazed at how much can be learned about such distant objects.
The goal is to provide enough scientific literacy for you make some sense of astronomically related items in the news; these are frequent. Maybe some things in the night sky will make more sense.
We'll be in roon 158 Fondren Science Wednesday and Friday for regular classes. Labs meet on Monday in room 60 Fondren Science (lower floor below 158). Normal class time is 1:00. First lab period is 1:00 and second is 3:00.
So far 1311 does not use Canvas. We have our own web site at
www.physics.smu.edu/jcotton/ph1311/
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Check it out as soon as possible. We'll use it for a lot ofpurposes.
First - get familiar with our semester schedule. Everything we will do is advertised here. You can see when all tests are scheduled, what labs we will be doing when, and what the class topics will be. Also take note of the "HW CH.x" and "HW Ch.x due" notations. The "HW Ch.x" note means that the homework assignment for the chapter we just finished will be ready for you at the end of class; be sure to pick one up as you leave class. The "HW Ch. x due" note tells you when the assignmment is due to be turned in.