JTW > Courses > Physics Z134: Astronomy
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Online Resources For Selected Chapters

Note: if the direct links to any of the quizzes or student resources don't work, try reaching them from the Voyages web site

"Old" resources are from the original publisher's website and include shorter, deeper interactive quizzes. "New" resources are from publisher's new website and include the longer, more superificial quizzes which you submitted as part of your homework.

Course Information

Textbook

Fraknoi, Morrsion and Wolff, Voyages Through the Universe, Third Edition (Harcourt College, 2004)

Syllabus

Lecture Topics

Links

• Astronomy Pic of the Day
• The Nine Planets
• Bad Astronomy
• The Calendar FAQ

Course Description

Here is a description of the course I wrote to replace the one in the Loyola Undergraduate Bulletin. It describes in more detail the range of topics to be covered:

PHYS Z134 Astronomy (3 credits)
Common Curriculum: Natural Sciences Modern

This course is designed to acquaint the non-scientist with the models which best describe our observations of the universe as well as the ways in which modern-day astronomers use those observations to deduce the nature of the universe. Topics include: astronomical explanations for phenomena such as tides, eclipses, seasons and phases of the moon; models of planetary motion from Ptolemy to Copernicus to Kepler; observed properties of planets, moons, comets and other occupants of our solar system; the structure, evolution, and eventual fate of a star.

Prerequisite: Any MATH course numbered 100 or above

Physics 1411: Introduction to Astronomy (UTB, Spring 2001)

I taught a similar course at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College in 2001. For more of an idea of the nature of the course (including a list of lecture topics), my webpage describing that course.