PLANETARY AND SPACE
SCIENCES
GEOL 103 -
Section 2, Fall 2006
| Dr. Jay A. Stravers | Office: | Davis Hall 506A |
| Office Hours: | MW 10:30-11:30 T 3:30-4:30 or upon request |
| Amanda Raitanen | Office: | Davis Hall 08 |
| Office Hours: | M 10:30-11:30 |
| Jo Uesugi | Office: | Davis Hall |
| Office Hours: | MF 12:00-1:00 |
| Dan Prawica | Office: | Davis Hall 01H |
| Office Hours: | M 1:00-2:00 T 2:00-3:00 |
| Required Text: | Michael A. Seeds |
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Text website at http://ace.brookscole.com/sf9
| Date | Topic | Reading |
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| Aug | 29 | Introduction and the night sky | Seeds 1, 2 |
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| 31 | The night sky | Seeds 2 |
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| Sep | 5 | The night sky and early astronomy | Seeds 2, 4.1 | |
| 7 | The ancient greeks | Seeds 2, 4.1, 3.1 | ||
| 12 | The ancient greeks and the renaissance | Seeds 2, 4 | ||
| 14 | The renaissance | Seeds 4 | ||
| 19 | Newton and orbits | Seeds 5 | ||
| 21 | Light and matter, sun and stars | Seeds 6, 7 | ||
| 26 | EXAM 1 sample test | Seeds 6, 7, skim 8 | ||
| 28 | Asteroids | |||
| Oct | 3 | Meteorites and Comets | Seeds 25 | |
| 5 | Comets | Seeds 25 | ||
| 10 | The moon | Seeds 25 | ||
| 12 | Moon and eclipses | Seeds 21 | ||
| 17 | Eclipses | Seeds 21, 3.3 - 3.5 | ||
| 19 | Earth | Seeds 3.3 - 3.5 | ||
| 24 | Earth | |||
| 26 | Earth and Venus | |||
| 31 | EXAM 2 | Seeds 20 | ||
| Nov | 2 | Venus | Seeds 20 | |
| 7 | Mars | Seeds 22.1 | ||
| 9 | Mars | |||
| 14 | Jupiter | Seeds 22.1 | ||
| 16 | Jupiter and Jupiter's satellites | Seeds 22.2 | ||
| 21 | Jupiter's satellites | Seeds 22.2 | ||
| 23 | Thanksgiving Break | Seeds 23.1 | ||
| 28 | Saturn and ring systems | Seeds 23.2 | ||
| 30 | Ring systems and Uranus | Seeds 23.2 | ||
| Dec | 5 | Neptune and Pluto | Seeds 23.3, 23.4 | |
| 7 | EXAM 3 | Seeds 24.1 | ||
| 12 | EXAM 4 Tues. 10:00-11:50am | final exam period |
All Exam and Extra Credit Grades
are Posted on NIU's Blackboard
| 1. | There will be three 50 point examinations during the term. The first exam will cover the material discussed in class up to that date. The second exam will cover only the material discussed after exam 1. The third exam will cover only the material discussed after exam 2. There will be no make up exams. In case of snowstorms, make up exams may be given only to those unable to commute from other communities (campus/DeKalb residents are expected to be in class unless NIU closes). |
| 2. | A final 50 point examination (exam 4) covering the last 1/2 of the class will be given. However if you have taken all three of the term exams and are satisfied with your grade, you need not take Exam 4. If you take all 4 exams your final score will be based on your three best exams. |
| 3. | Extra credit problems or questions will also be assigned in class at various times throughout the semester. These represent an easy opportunity for you to increase your point total. |
| 4. | Your final grade will be based on your three best test scores plus the extra credit points (for a class total of 150 points). |
| 5. | The exams will consist of multiple choice and short answer or short essay questions taken from the lectures, images, videos, and the reading materials. It is important to note that the text does not cover all the material presented in class. Special topics of interest will be discussed at times throughout the semester. |
| 6. | How to do well in this class. Keep up with the readings, attend all classes, take notes carefully, highlight all the important points stressed during the lectures, spend time carefully reviewing and memorizing your notes before each exam. Come to class so you don't miss the extra credit problems and questions. |
| 7. | There will be no tolerance for academic dishonesty. YOU are in deep xxxx if you cheat! |
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How to get there: |
| The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database | http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/indexFrames.html |
| The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia | http://www.obspm.fr/encycl/encycl.html |
| Astroweb | http://www.stsci.edu/astroweb/astronomy.html |
| The Stanford Solar Center | http://solar-center.stanford.edu/ |
| European Southern Observatory | http://www.eso.org/ |
| Hubble Heritage | http://heritage.stsci.edu/ |
| The Nine Planets | http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/ |
| JPL NEO orbits | http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/ |
| spaceref.com | http://www.spaceref.com/ |
| Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy | http://www.badastronomy.com/ |
| Saturn | http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/gravity-assists.cfm |
FOR YOUR REFERENCE
(You will not be tested directly on this reference material,
this information is for your benefit in case you have any confusion
concerning units or their conversions)
LENGTH
1 km = 1 kilometer = 1000 meters = 0.62 miles
1 m = 1 meter = 1.094 yards = 39.37 inches
1 cm = 1 centimeter = 0.01 meters = 0.3937 inch
1 mm = 1 millimeter = 0.001 meters= 0.01 cm = .03937 inch
1 µ = 1 micron = 0.000001 meters = 0.0001 cm = 0.00003937
inch
1 mile = 1.6093 km
1 inch = 2.54 cm
MASS OR WEIGHT AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE
1 mg = 1 milligram = 0.001 g = 0.0000022046 lb
1 g = 1 gram = 0.0022046 lb = 0.0353 oz.
1 kg = 1 kilogram = 1000g = 2.2046 lb
1 metric ton = 1000 kg = 2204.6 lb
VOLUME
1 qt. = 0.94 liters
1 gal. = 3.8 liters
TEMPERATURE
C° = 5/9 (F°-32°) 0 degree C = 32 degrees F
100 degrees C = 212 degrees F
F° = 9/5 C° + 32°
K° = C° + 273° 0 degrees K = "Absolute Zero"
PRESSURE
1 atmosphere. = 1 bar = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch
of air pressure)
DISTANCES
1 l.y. = 1 light year = 9.5 x 1012 km = 5.8 x 1012 miles
1 A.U. = 1 Astronomical Unit = 150 million kilometers = 93
million miles
1 parsec = 3.26 l.y. = 3.1 x 1013 km
METRIC PREFIXES (SI UNITS)
Power of 10 Prefix Abbrev
106 mega- M 1000000
103 kilo- k 1000
(ie. 1km or kilometer = 1000 meters)
10-2 centi c 0.01
(ie. 1cm or centimeter = 1/100 of a meter)
10-3 milli- m 0.001
(ie. 1mm or millimeter = 1/1000 of a meter)
10-6 micro- µ 0.000001
10-9 nano- n 0.000000001
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