AST121 - Introduction to Astronomy

Syllabus | Lectures | CLEA | Handouts | VPython | Astro Physlets

The universe is one of the most wonderful, awe-inspiring discoveries I've ever experienced. While dinosaur fossils tell us about the dinosaur at the moment it died, the light from stars tell us about the stars at the moment they lived, so many years ago. According to Psalm 19, the heavens are speaking to us.

Psalm 19

 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; 
 the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 
 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; 
 night after night they display knowledge. 
 3 There is no speech or language 
 where their voice is not heard. [1] 
 4 Their voice [2] goes out into all the earth, 
 their words to the ends of the world. 

The purpose of this course is learn about our night sky, our solar system, our galaxy, and our universe. Everything we know about the universe comes from studying light. Light is the messenger that delivers information that helps us know the size of the universe, the origin of the universe, and perhaps the fate of the universe. But to understand what it tells us, we must apply principles of physics.

A secondary purpose of this course is simply to be blown away about how incredible the universe is. Just have fun learning!