Course Syllabus
29:52 Characteristics and Origins of the Solar System
Fall Semester 2000

Steven R. Spangler
705 Van Allen Hall
335-1948
srs@vesta.physics.uiowa.edu
http://www-astro.physics.uiowa.edu/ srs/

Characteristics and Origins of the Solar System is an introductory course in the astronomy of the solar system, intended for students who are majoring in fields other than the natural sciences. The astronomy of the solar system is one of the most exciting fields in all science nowadays, ranking with molecular biology and genetics. New results from spacecraft are coming in daily, and may be seen on the front page of the New York Times. The internet has evolved into an effective tool for the distribution of this information. Lectures will be regularly supplemented with these findings. I also plan to emphasize those phenomena which can be seen with the unaided eye in the night sky.
General Course Information

1. Lectures are from 8:30 to 9:20 PM Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in Room 70 of Van Allen Hall.
2. There is no laboratory associated with this course. However, I will offer to students in this course the option of taking a special section of 29:51, Introductory Astronomy Laboratory, in a subsequent semester. This section, which I would personally teach, would emphasize observation of phenomena and objects discussed in the class.
3. The required textbook for the course is Voyages to the Planets by A. Fraknoi, D. Morrison, and S. Wolff.
4. Office hours for Professor Spangler are 2:30 - 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, or by appointment if this time is inconvenient.
5. One hour exams will be held in the regular class period on September 25, October 25, and November 17.
6. The final exam will be held on Friday, December 15 at 2:15 PM in Room 70.
7. Homework will be assigned, collected and graded. Homework exercises will consist of computational exercises and thought problems. The purpose of these exercises is to get you to actively think about what is presented in class. Students are encouraged to work in groups of 2 to 3 on these.
8. Students are encouraged to visit the observatory on the roof of Van Allen Hall to see the objects discussed in this class. A laboratory instructor will be on duty on clear nights, Monday through Thursday, at 9:00 PM. The roof of Van Allen Hall may be reached from a stairway at the east end of the 7th floor. The roof is kept dark during observing sessions, so be careful where you step and be alert for changes in elevation. In addition, I plan to organize a number of observing sessions to be held in my back yard or the observatory of the Cedar Valley Amateur Astronomers organization.
9. There is a World Wide Web homepage associated with the course, http://www-astro.physics.uiowa.edu/ srs/. Go to the link for 29:52. The website contains lecture notes and homework assignments. It also serves as a gateway to other astronomical links such as the Mars Pathfinder and Hubble Space Telescope homepages.
10. I would like to hear from anyone who has a disability which may require some modification of seating, testing, or other class requirements so that appropriate arrangements may be made. Please see me after class or during office hours.
11. As a physical science, astronomy has progressed through the application of mathematics to natural phenomena. Arguably the greatest discovery ever made about nature was that the universe obeys relatively simple mathematical laws. This discovery permitted the development of science and its attendant technologies. Use of mathematics is necessary, even in an introductory course, to convey a sense of how the physical sciences proceed to describe the universe. Mathematical arguments will be used freely in the lectures, and problems will be worked out in the lectures, posed as homework assignments, and featured on the examinations. The level of mathematics will be restricted to algebra and geometry, subjects which should have been studied by any graduate of an Iowa High School.

Schedule of Topics

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