UGEB2401C Astronomy
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UGEB2401C Astronomy

A qualitative and non-mathematical survey of major ideas in astronomy. Topics covered will include: earth and sky, moon, calendar and time keeping, origin of modern astronomy, light and telescope, starlight and atoms, the sun, binary stars and their significance, stellar evolution, neutron stars and black holes, Milky Way, galaxies, quasars, the structure of the universe, solar system, meteorites, asteroids and comets. This course aims at introducing basic concepts rather than mathematical and factual details.

Lecturer

Dr. CHAN, Man-Ho
Office: SC 217, Tel: 3943-6103, Email: mhchan@phy.cuhk.edu.hk
Consultation Hour: Tuesday 3pm-4pm (by appointment)

Teaching Assistant(s)

Mr. Xie Yichao
Email: ycxie@phy.cuhk.edu.hk
Ms. Zhang Caihong
Email: chzhang@phy.cuhk.edu.hk
Ms. Jiang Nina
Email: ninajiang@phy.cuhk.edu.hk
Mr. Ruan Qifeng
Email: qfruan@phy.cuhk.edu.hk

Lecture Class

Wed 11:30 am - 12:15 pm (SC L3)
Thu 1:30 pm - 3:15 pm (LSB LT4)

Textbook(s)

Michael A. Seeds, ï¿½Foundations of Astronomyï¿�, 8th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2005.

Reference Books

Bradley W. Carroll and Dale A. Ostlie, ï¿½An Introduction to Modern Astrophysicsï¿�, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Pearson, 2007.

Assessment Scheme

Homework 20%
Mid-term Test 30%
Final Exam. 50%

Course Outline

Chapter 1: The Universe at Different Scales
Chapter 2: The Solar System I
Chapter 3: The Earth and the Sky I
Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy I
Chapter 5: The Origin of Modern Astronomy II
Chapter 6: The Earth and the Sky II
Chapter 7: Theory of Motion and Gravitation
Chapter 8: Lunar phases, tides and eclipses
Chapter 9: The Solar System II
Chapter 10: Measuring Stars
Chapter 11: The Formation of Stars
Chapter 12: Main-sequence Stars
Chapter 13: The Deaths of Stars
Chapter 14: Relativity
Chapter 15: Black holes
Chapter 16: Cosmology