Astronomy 214: Honors: General Astronomy
Section 001, Fall 2016
Lecture MWF 13:50-14:45 TCCW 201
Laboratory T 20:00-22:00 TCCW 201

Instructor

Dr. Steven J. Gibson
Office: TCCW 231
Phone: 270-745-3019
Office Hours: MW 10:20-11:15
or by appointment

Materials

Course Syllabus [PDF] + Exam Tips [PDF]
Schedules: Reading, Homework, and Exams + Laboratories
Required Text: 21st Century Astronomy, 4th Edition by Kay, Palen, Smith, & Blumenthal (2013, W. W. Norton)
Optional Material: Star & Planet Locator (Edmund Scientific)

Other Resources

Norton StudySpace: Online Demos + Self-Tests
Local Clubs: Hilltoppers Astronomy Club + Society of Physics Students
Weather Forecast: NWS + Wunderground + NOAA Satellite Images: Visible + Infrared
Predicted Observing Conditions: Local + Kentucky + BG Sky Charts (key) + Rise/Set Times
Image Software: ImageJ + Makali`i + GIMP + IRAF + Karma + Astrometry.net
Magazines + Current Events: Astronomy + Sky & Telescope + Astronomy Now
Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) + Science Nerd Videos + Satellite Flybys
SEDS: Messier Catalog + NGC Objects + Best of HST
The World at Night: Gigapixel All-Sky Mosaic + Labeled Interactive Sky Panorama
100,000 Stars 3-D Visualizer + Extrasolar Planet Encyclopedia
GalaxyMap: Milky Way Structure + Chromoscope + Radio Sky
Atlas of the Universe + 2MASS Nearby Universe + Log-Scale Map of the Entire Universe

Announcements & Materials
- Wed 30 Nov
  - Announcements
    - Hand in old labs!! see list
    - Exam #6 Friday
    - Wed 9 Dec: Physics & Astronomy Holiday Lunch, noon - Sign up if interested!
    - Fri 11 Dec: Comprehensive Final Exam, 10:30am
  - Life in the Universe
    - Astrobiology (Wikipedia)
    - Habitable Zone (Wikipedia)
    - 20% of Stars have Planets in Favorable Orbits? (Kepler)
    - Exomoon Prototypes? (APOD)
    - Habitable zone calculator/simulator + paper
    - Biological Life (Wikipedia)
    - Phylogenetic Tree (Wikipedia)
    - Artificial Life (Wikipedia)
    - Was LUCA an Extremophile? (Ars)
    - Supercritical CO2 - Cradle of Life? (Space.com)
    - Physics of the Origin of Life (Quanta)
    - Baby Penguin Robot Spy - a model for exploring exo-life?
    - Life on Mars (60sAiA video)
    - Problems with M-Dwarf Systems? (Astronomy.com)
    - Are We the First Ones? (Astronomy/CfA)
    - Fermi Paradox (Wikipedia)
    - Drake Equation (Wikipedia)
    - SETI - sensitivity vs. range (Wikipedia)
    - Breakthrough Listen (Wikipedia)
    - (Yet Another) SETI False Alarm (Astronomy)
    - Colonizing Venus (Is Mars too easy?)
    - Breakthrough Starshot: Feasibility (Ars)
- Tue 29 Nov
  - Tonight's Lab: Radio Jove Data Analysis
- Mon 28 Nov
  - Announcements
    - Today following lecture material: lab catch-up time! (open format)
    - Tue 1 Dec: Radio Jove Data Analysis Lab -- at 7:00pm!
    - Wed 2 Dec: Read Ch. 24
    - Fri 4 Dec: Exam #6
    - Wed 9 Dec: Physics & Astronomy Holiday Lunch, noon - Sign up if interested!
    - Fri 11 Dec: Comprehensive Final Exam, 10:30am
  - Structure, Continued
    - Logarithmic Universe
      - Gott ApJ paper (see Fig. 8)
      - XKCD comic
    - History in 100 Words (PDF)
    - History in 1 Minute (APOD video)
    - Cosmic History Epochs (Wikipedia)
    - Future Expansionary Epochs + Graphical Timeline (Wikipedia)
    - Logarithmic History (Flip-side; Wikipedia)
- Mon 21 Nov
  - Announcements + News
    - No lab tomorrow - Happy T-break!
    - Tue 1 Dec: Last Lab: Radio Jove Data
    - Wed 2 Dec: Read Ch. 24
    - Fri 4 Dec: Exam #6
  - Origins of Structure
    - Hubble early galaxies lensed in Abell 2744 (BBC)
    - Missing Dwarf Companions in Fornax (Astronomy.com)
    - Primeval super-starburst galaxy AzTEC-3: Astronomy.com + ALMA + paper
    - Quasar Aligments? Ars + Astronomy.com
    - Lab Simulation of Ripples in Early Universe with Cold Atoms
    - Bolshoi Cosmic Structure Simulation
    - Illustris cosmic structure similation: Video + APOD
- Fri 18 Nov
  - Announcements + News
    - Read Ch. 23 for Mon 21 Nov
  - Physical Cosmology
    - How Many Early Dwarf Galaxies? (Astronomy.com)
    - Narrowing Down Re-Ionization (Astronomy/Planck)
    - HERA Reionization Survey Funded (NRAO) + Official Site
    - Dwarf Galaxies and Reionization in the Early Universe (Astronomy.com)
    - Dark Matters (PhD Comics video; also other nerd videos)
    - MACHOs Not Enough for Dark Matter? (Astronomy)
    - Another Dark Matter Candidate: Topological Defects (Ars Technica)
    - Dark Energy (Wikipedia) + 60sAiA video
    - BOSS Dark Matter/Energy Map (SDSS)
    - Big Rip (APOD)
    - BICEP2 CMBR polarization: BBC + Guardian + JPL + CfA + BICEP2 + Planck update
    - Inflation (Wikipedia)
    - Standard Model of Particle Physics (Wikipedia)
    - Large Hadron Collider (60sAiA video)
- Tue 15 Nov
  - CCD Data Analysis Lab
    - Equipment: classroom computers or laptop
    - ImageJ Software (may be installed already on classroom machines)
    - Data to analyze
    - Optimum data for observed objects
      - Vega: 2016 Nov 01 (0.01 sec exposure better)
      - Alberio: 2016 Nov 01
      - Jupiter: 2012 Oct 22 (set 2 better)
      - Uranus: 2014 Oct 21
      - Moon: 2011 Nov 01
      - M13, Hercules Globular Cluster: 2012 Oct 23
      - M31, Andromeda Galaxy: 2015 Oct 13
      - M42, Orion Nebula: 2012 Oct 22 (30 sec)
      - M57, Ring Nebula: 2016 Nov 01 (60 sec)
  - No lab next week - Thanksgiving break
- Mon 14 Nov
  - Announcements + News
    - Begin Block 6 today!
    - Hand in old labs!! see list
    - Lab tomorrow: CCD Analysis!
      - Bring laptop if you have one
      - Install: ImageJ Software
      - NEW TIME: Start at 7:00pm!
  - Cosmology
    - Hubble Expansion | Graph (Wikipedia)
    - Hubble 1929 plot
    - Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial
    - Supernovae + Nobel Prize (APOD)
    - Planck finds gas between galaxy clusters (ESA press release)
    - How Microwave Background Shows Really Hot Gas (Wikipedia)
    - The Big Bang (60sAiA video)
- Tue 8 Nov
  - NO LAB TODAY -- Election Day (WKU Closed)
  - Work on Old Labs!
  - For fun: 100,000 Stars 3-D Visualizer
    - This uses Hipparcos parallaxes -- GAIA will provide a much larger data set!
- Fri 4 Nov
  - Galaxies (Wikipedia)
    - Andromeda Galaxy (Wikipedia)
    - M31 Close-Up (APOD/STScI)
    - M33 H II regions (APOD)
    - NGC 1275 Filaments (HST; APOD)
    - M51 Companion Tidal Tails (APOD)
    - M81: Grand Design (APOD)
    - Galaxy Wars: M81 vs. M82 (APOD)
    - GALEX View of M81 + M82 (APOD)
    - M81 Group in HI 21cm Emission (NRAO)
    - Exotic Carbon Ions Found in Messier 82 (Leiden U./LOFAR)
    - Cloudy (Galactic) Weather (APOD)
    - NGC 1309 Face-On Spiral + Background Galaxies (APOD/STScI)
    - Thin, Dust-free Galaxy (APOD)
    - Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660 (Gemini)
    - NGC 474 tidal shells and streams (APOD)
    - Disk Galaxy Formation Simulation - N-Body Shop (APOD)
    - Dark Matter (60sAiA video)
    - Cosmic Rays from Dark Matter? (AMS experiment) + APOD photo
    - Dragonfly 44: An Almost-Dark Galaxy?
    - A Dark Matter Bridge in Our Cosmic Neighborhood (Astronomy.com)
    - The Dark (Matter) Side of the Moon (Ars Tech)
    - Relativistic Jets + Radio Galaxies + Active Galactic Nuclei
    - Radio Galaxy in Hercules (APOD)
    - 3C 75 Binary AGN (APOD)
    - Ultra-Compact Dwarf Galaxy Hosts of Supermassive Black Holes (Astronomy.com)
    - Ejected Supermassive Black Hole? (SWIFT/Astronomy.com)
    - Hubble sequence holds over most of cosmic history (CANDELS)
    - Early star formation in elliptical galaxy (Astronomy.com) + HST press release
    - Most Distant Galaxy (for now) (Astronomy.com/HST)
    - Early Galaxies Turn On? (SUBARU/NAOJ) + paper (ApJ)
  - Groups, Clusters, etc.
    - Local Group (Wikipedia)
    - Virgo Cluster (APOD)
    - Virgo Cluster Diffuse Light (also collisions)
    - Galaxy Cluster in 3-D (Abell 1763, Yale, from Ting-Hui)
    - Hot Intracluster Gas in Coma (Astronomy.com)
    - Pristine fuel for early galaxy (Astronomy.com)
    - Local Supercluster Redefined (Laniakea) + press article (Guardian) + video (Youtube) + press release (IfA) + press article (phys.org) + wikipedia (inc. preprint) + paper (Nature) + preprint (arXiv) + longer video (IRFU)
    - Lensed Galaxies in Abell 2218 + Lensed Arcs Detail (APOD)
    - Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689 (APOD)
    - Abell S1063 Lensing (APOD/STScI)
    - Gravity's Grin (APOD)
    - Dark Matter in Colliding Clusters (APOD)
    - HUDF fly-through (APOD)
    - SDSS Fly-through Universe (APOD)
    - 2MASS Nearby Universe (APOD)
    - Log-Scale Map of the Entire Universe (Astrophysical Journal paper)
    - Scales in Perspective
Tue 1 Nov
- Tonight's lab if clear weather: CCD Observations and Imaging
  - Everyone will get a turn taking images with the CCD camera.
  - Processing of the image data will be done in a subsequent lab.
- Backup if sky not clear enough: How Far is the Galactic Center?

Mon 31 Oct

Announcements + News
- Starting Block 5 - beware topic order!
- Lab tomorrow - CCD Observing?
- Haunted Galaxy (APOD)
- Scary Exoplanet Weather (Astronomy.com)
- Zombie Planets (Astronomy.com)

Sky Views of the Milky Way Galaxy

Optical Milky Way from ALMA site (APOD) + Great Rift info (Astro Bob)
Milky Way Photography Tips (Ken Rockwell)
Interactive Sky Panorama (TWAN - try labels!)

APOD Multiwavelength Sky Views (using extended metric prefixes):

Regime	Source	Wavelength	Frequency	Photon Energy
Radio	Haslam	73.2 - 73.9 cm	406 - 410 MHz	1.68 - 1.70 μeV
Microwave	Planck	0.35 - 10 mm	30 - 857 GHz	0.12 - 3.5 meV
Far-Infrared	COBE	60 - 240 μm	1.25 - 5.0 THz	5.2 - 21 meV
Near-Infrared	COBE	1.25 - 3.5 μm	86 - 240 THz	0.36 - 1.0 eV
Optical	Mellinger	400 - 700 nm	430 - 750 THz	1.8 - 3.1 eV
X-Ray	ROSAT	0.8 - 5 nm	60 PHz - 400 PHz	0.25 - 1.5 keV
Gamma-Ray	Fermi	4 am - 40 fm	7 ZHz - 70 YHz	30 MeV - 300 GeV

Supplemental:
- Infrared with Zodiacal Emission (COBE)
- X-Rays with Different Energies (ROSAT)
- Fermi Gamma-Ray Bubbles
- Multiwavelength Milky Way Poster (NASA/Goddard)
- Interactive Sky Panorama (The World at Night)
- Chromoscope (Compare spectral regimes!)
- Radio Sky Visualization

Plan Views of the Milky Way
- Plan-View Map (APOD)
- Other Structure (GalaxyMap.org)
- Science Fiction (CGPS/Trek)
- NGC 6744, Milky Way analog (APOD)
- Caution! Compare to Early World Maps (Wikipedia)
General Milky Way (Wikipedia)
- MW + T5 Long Zoom (APOD video)
- Stellar Orbits near Galactic Center (UCLA/Keck)
- Planets around nearby halo star (RAS)
- Massive Halo of Hot X-ray Gas Around Milky Way (NASA/Chandra)
- Massive Merged Binary Star near Milky Way's Central Black Hole (Astronomy.com)
- High-Energy Neutrinos from Galactic Center (IceCube/Astronomy.com)
- NRAO Milky Way Explorer: intro + tool

Tue 25 Oct
- Tonight's lab if clear weather: CCD Observations and Imaging
  - Everyone will get a turn taking images with the CCD camera.
  - Processing of the image data will be done in a subsequent lab.
- Backup if sky not clear enough: Interstellar Travel -- Did this one!
Mon 24 Oct
- Announcements + News
  - Finishing Block 4 this week, Exam #4 Fri!
  - Lab tomorrow - CCD Observations
- Stellar Evolution, Continued (see Fri 21 Oct)
- Relativity
  - Images:
    - Length Contraction (Mr. Tompkins)
    - Relativistic Doppler Effect (Wikipedia)
    - Aberration of Light (Wikipedia)
    - COBE CMBR Maps
    - Ned Wright's Tutorial
    - DIY Relativity Test (Sky & Telescope)
  - Animations + Videos
    - Time Dilation from Laser Between Space Ships (1:23)
    - Moving Cart Special Relativity (2:31)
    - Annenberg/Caltech Mechanical Universe - 42 - Lorentz Transformation (29:07; 3-D spacetime around 19:45-25:40)
    - Carl Sagan - Time Dilation (7:39) (motorcycle ride only: 2:15)
    - Twin Paradox animated spacetime diagrams (Einstein Light)
    - Angular Compression + Light Grazing Back of Object
    - Relativistic Rollercoaster (1:15)
    - Optical Effects of Special Relativity (6:12)
    - Through Einstein's Eyes Website
    - Special Relativity (60sAiA video)
- Relativity + Black Holes
  - Black Holes (Wikipedia) - lensing, accretion, evaporation
  - General Relativity (Wikipedia)
  - Radio tests of GR - PPT
  - Black Holes (60sAiA video)
  - Event Horizons (60sAiA video)
  - Frame-Dragging Detected Around Black Hole (Astronomy/ESA)
  - Inside Black Holes (Andrew Hamilton)
  - Sonic Black Holes + Hawking Radiation Analog
  - Sonic Black Holes: Entangled Phonons? (Ars) (also Astronomy)
  - 2nd Black Hole Merger Detected (Guardian)
  - GR 100th Anniversary (animated cartoon)
Fri 21 Oct
- Variable Stars (Wikipedia)
- Massive Star Evolution
  - Nuclear Binding Energy Curve
  - 2nd-Generation Star Found? (Subaru Telescope) + follow-up article
  - Eta Carina + Nebula (APOD)
  - Supernovae - Part II (and Ib + Ic?)
    - Supernovae (60sAiA video)
    - Simeis 147 Supernova Remnant (APOD)
    - Multiwavelength Crab Nebula (APOD)
    - M1: Holiday Card (APOD)
    - SNR Cas A has been modeled in 3-D (Astronomy.com/Chandra)
    - SN Ib's from WR Stars? (Astronomy.com)
    - SN2011fe + Light Curve (AAVSO)
    - Are Some Stars Too Massive to Go Supernova? (Astronomy.com)
    - Pencil Nebula (APOD)
    - Magnetar Starquake (Fermi)
    - Magnetar Wind Nebula (Phys.org/ApJ)
    - Two-Stage Superluminal Supernova: Magnetar Birth? (Phys.org; also Astronomy)
    - Delayed Supernovae Could be Collapsing Magnetars (Astronomy)
    - Turn Your Smartphone into a Cosmic Ray Detector!
  - Neutron Stars (Wikipedia) - optical effects, composition
    - X-ray emission from SN1987A (Ars)
    - Gamma-rays from ``black widow'' pulsar (Ars)
  - Bumps in the Night
    - Dead Stars Caught Colliding (Sky & Telescope)
    - GRB 139426A
      - Discovery
      - Sky & Telescope
Tue 18 Oct
- Tonight: Bad Weather, Lab Cancelled
  - Use time to catch up on labs not yet completed.
Mon 17 Oct
- Announcements
  - Today: Start Block 4
  - Tomorrow: Attempt CCD Observations and Imaging Lab!
- News
  - Ripples in a Planet-Forming Disk (Astronomy.com)
  - Unexplained star dimming -- aliens?? (Ars Technica)
  - Old and New Stars (APOD)
  - Expolanet Affects Stellar Evolution? (Chandra)
- Low-Mass Stellar Evolution
  - Stellar Evolution (Wikipedia)
  - Faint Young Sun Solved: Astronomy.com + CU Press Release
  - Red Giant (Wikipedia)
  - Planetary Nebulae (PNe)
    - Medusa Planetary Nebula (APOD)
    - Helix Nebula, NGC 7293
      - Optical: Good Visual + Classic Ground-Based + Faint Outer + HST + Detail
      - Other: Spitzer IR 1 + IR 2 + GALEX UV + WISE IR + Eye
    - Planetary Nebula M 2-9 (HST, APOD)
    - M57 outer structure (APOD)
    - APOD Search: try "Planetary Nebula"
    - Ring Nebula Sketch (APOD)
    - Abell 39 - "typical" PN? (APOD; compare to search)
    - Boomerang Nebula: HST Optical + Polarization (APOD) + ALMA Dust (Astronomy.com)
  - White Dwarfs (Wikipedia)
    - Habitable Zone? (arXiv)
    - White-Dwarf Pulsar Analog? (Astronomy/Nature)
  - Novae + Gamma Rays (Astronomy.com/Fermi) + Remnants (Wikipedia) + CVS (Wikipedia)
  - Supernovae (SNe; Wikipedia) - part I(a)
    - ``White widow'' SN Ia Scenario? (ApJ Paper)
    - Sn Ia WD Merger (Astronomy/NASA)
Tue 11 Oct
- Do Interplanetary Travel lab
  - Video: SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System (see also full Elon Musk speech and Ars Technica Review)
  - Video: Wanderers (solar system colonization)
Mon 10 Oct
- Announcements
  - Exam #3 on Fri - Ch 13 - 15 - review homework!
  - Quiz Mon 17 Oct on Ch. 16 - low-mass star evolution
  - Lab tomorrow: Interplanetary Travel
- ISM
  - The Interstellar Medium (Wikipedia)
  - Simulation of Turbulent Motions (MHD model, Gazol et al. 2005)
  - Star Formation (Wikipedia)
  - LDN 673 Dark Clouds in Aquila Rift (APOD)
  - LDN 1251 Dark Clouds in Cepheus Flare (APOD)
  - Open Cluster M7 and dark clouds (APOD)
  - Cocoon Nebula: optical + infrared (APOD)
  - Dust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (APOD)
  - MBM 54 Dust (APOD)
  - LDN 988: Dark Filaments in the Northern Coalsack (APOD)
  - Messier 20: The Trifid Nebula (APOD)
  - Barnard's Loop in Orion (APOD)
  - Star-forming Region M78 (APOD)
  - Orion Ultradeep Field (APOD)
  - Cave Nebula Sh2-155 and Propagating Star Formation (APOD)
  - (New) Massive Star in NGC 6357 (APOD)
  - NGC 3576 H II Region (APOD)
  - Star Cluster M52 + Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 (APOD)
  - Heart + Soul Nebulae + Perseus Double Cluster (APOD)
  - Star Formation in Southern Milky Way (ESO)
  - Spiral Structure in Messier 83 (APOD)
  - Dust in Edge-On Galaxy NGC 891 (APOD)
  - Pre-History of Solar System (ARS)
  - More Oddness at Tabby's Star (Astronomy)
  - Filaments Workshop (NRAO)
  - Care and Feeding of New Exoplanets in Binary Systems (ALMA)
  - HL Tauri Protoplanetary Disk with Gaps (ALMA)
  - Warped Protoplanetary Debris Disks (HST/Astronomy.com)
  - Local PPTs
Wed 5 Oct
- No class on Fri - Fall Break
- Ch 15 quiz Mon
- Rooftop Solar Viewing Today!
- Solar activity video (30 min; NASA/SDO)
- Citizen CATE: Sky & Telescope Overview + Official Site
- Radio Jove Participation in the Eclipse
- WKU RJ Solar Flare / SID Example
Tue 4 Oct
- Tonight's lab: Time and Coordinates
- Please bring paper, pencil, and calculator.
- You will also need either a laptop computer or a means to save files from a classroom computer for later use.
Mon 3 Oct
- The Sun (Wikipedia)
- Current Images (NOAO)
- GONG H-alpha Imaging
- Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) Images
- GONG Far-Side Imaging - see Calibrated Movie
- Whole-Sun Images (STEREO mission)
- Current Space Weather (NOAA)
- News & Photos
  - Physics Nobel: Neutrino Oscillations (Astronomy.com)
  - International Space Station Transiting Sun -- Twice! (APOD)
  - Active Sun photosphere + Negative Sun (APOD)
  - Solar prominence (APOD)
  - Giant Filament on Sun (SDO/Astronomy.com)
  - Solar Filament Eruption (APOD video)
  - Solar Prominence Heights (APOD)
  - Chromosphere from Uganda (APOD)
  - Activity Composite (APOD)
  - Red Dwarf Mega-Flare (Swift/Astronomy.com)
  - 1967 Solar Flare Radio Blackout, Nuclear War Risk (Ars Technica)
  - Coronal Heating Solved? (Astronomy.com)
Fri 30 Sep
- Announcements
  - Continuing Block 3 - Ch 14 quiz Mon
- News & Photos
  - Ice Seasons on Pluto (Astronomy)
  - Are You Lost Without Your Phone? (Astronomy)
  - Fomalhaut: widest trinary? + more details (U. Rochester) - orbital period estimate ~ 20 Myr!
  - GAIA Galactic Census (60sAiA video)
  - GAIA: Pending Revolution? (BBC 2013)
  - GAIA finds supernova (Astronomy.com 2014)
  - GAIA - first results (Guardian) + (Official Site)
  - Freezing-Cold Brown Dwarf: sciency thoughts + bad astronomy + paper
  - Water Ice Clouds Found in Brown Dwarf (Astronomy.com)
  - Brown Dwarf Aurora! (NRAO/Caltech)
Wed 28 Sep
- Announcements
  - New lecture block - Ch. 13 today, Ch. 14 next Monday
  - Material
    - False Sky (APOD)
    - Apparent Brightness (APOD)
    - Solar Spectrum (APOD)
    - Norton StudySpace: Chapter 13 Demos
    - Proportionality Problems
    - Wikipedia:
      - H-R Diagram
      - Star Colors, Spectral Classes, Masses
      - General Info on Stars - number vs. magnitude, fusion reactions
- Tue 27 Sep
  - Tonight: Star Magnitude Lab
    - Read Section 13.1 on stellar distances and magnitudes.
    - Bring pencil, paper, calculator, and star wheel / planisphere.
    - limiting magnitude handout [PDF]
    - interactive version of handout (HTML)
    - Sky Darkness References
    - Videos
      - Our Vanishing Night (2 min; award-winning dark sky video)
      - Campus Light Pollution (4 min; petition to make Manitoba campus dark)
  - Also finish other labs if needed
- Fri 23 Sep
  - Announcements
    - EXAM #2 MONDAY ON CHAPTERS 3-4 + 7-12!
    - See schedule for next block assigments!
  - Moon Features
    - Phobos visualization (APOD)
    - Curiosity captures Phobos transiting the Sun!
    - Phobos Showing Signs of (Tidal) Stress (Astronomy.com)
    - Jupiter System in 3-D (APOD)
    - Io's Incredible Collapsing Atmosphere (Astronomy/SwRI)
    - Ganymede Geological Map (Ars) + poster (USGS)
    - Under-ice probe test (YouTube) + article (National Geographic)
    - Ganymede Aurora! (NASA)
    - Titan Weather (APOD)
    - Methane Ice Clouds on Titan (Cassini)
    - Titan Polar Vortex (JPL/Astronomy.com)
    - Titan polar hydrocarbon lakes (APOD)
    - Titan hydrocarbon cycle (JPL) + press article (Astronomy)
    - Cassini - More on Titan Lakes (Astronomy)
    - Titan: Flyover (APOD video)
    - Enceladus (APOD) + News (JPL)
    - Titan's Flooded Canyons (Astronomy)
    - Backlit Titan + Enceladus + Rings (APOD)
    - Titan, Epimetheus, and Rings (APOD)
    - Wobble Shows Enceladus Ocean (JPL/Astronomy)
    - Enceladus Image (Cassini/APOD)
    - Dione Map (Cassini)
    - Dione Subsurface Ocean? (Astronomy.com)
    - Hyperion Craters (APOD)
    - Iapetus + Mimas (That's no moon!) (Wikipedia)
    - Young Age for Saturn Inner Moons? (Ars)
    - Neptune moon transit (APOD)
    - Subsurface oceans abound! (Astronomy.com)
  - Moon Systems: Jupiter + Saturn + Uranus + Neptune + Pluto (Wikipedia)
  - Pluto moon news
    - Ground-based Pluto-Charon Image! (0.02 arcsec resolution)
    - P4 discovery - 2011
    - P5 discovery - 2012
    - Charon's Red Polar Caps (Ars)
  - Ring Systems
  - Dwarf Planets
    - Definition + List (note moons!)
    - Vesta Flyby Photos: 1 + 2 + 3
    - Pluto + Charon Full Day (Astronomy.com)
    - Pluto atmosphere news
    - Blue skies on Pluto? (Astronomy.com)
    - Atmospheric Twilight on Pluto (New Horizons/Astronomy)
    - Backlit Pluto Landscape + Atmosphere (New Horizons/APOD)
    - Cthulhu on Pluto! (APOD/New Horizons)
    - Antifreeze Helps Pluto Churn (Astronomy.com)
    - Ammonia-Ice Volcanoes on Pluto? (Astronomy.com)
    - Sedna talk + animations
  - Asteroids + Comets + Other Debris
    - 4.4 Gyr Old Mars Meteorite Found (BBC)
    - Ringed Centaur asteroid (Wiki)
    - Arecibo Radar NEA Handout (PDF)
    - AO Radar Images of Asteroids, Comets (PPT)
    - Radar-Based 2-Lobed Asteroid Model (JPG)
    - Animation: Binary Asteroid 3-D Model: edge-on + tilted (Arecibo)
    - Animation: Triple Asteroid: small + large (Arecibo)
    - Asteroid Impact Avoidance + Gravitational Tractor (Wikipedia)
    - Asteroid Impacts 3.3 Billion Years Ago May Have Boiled the Oceans (Ars)
    - Ceres Bright Spots (Dawn/APOD) + haze (Nature)
    - Ice Volcano on Ceres! (Astronomy)
    - OSIRIS-REx: Asteroid Sample Return Mission (Guardian) + Official Site
    - Earth Atmosphere Asteroid Hits (NASA)
    - Infrasound impact detections: BBC + Vimeo + B612 list + Sutter's Mill + Sulawesi + Chelyabinsk
    - GAIA and Killer Asteroids (60sAiA video)
    - Comet Hartley + Perseus Double Cluster (APOD)
    - Comet Garradd + Coathanger (APOD)
    - Comet McNaught + Two Hemispheres (APOD)
    - Comet ISON: NASA (NASA) + Sky & Telescope (S&T)
    - Comet Tempel (quiescent) (APOD)
    - Comet + Solar Corona Mass Ejection (Space Weather) (just a coincidence!)
    - Green Comet: Lovejoy (APOD)
    - Bright Comet: McNaught (APOD)
    - Comet ISON and 3 galaxies (APOD)
    - Comet in Southern Sky (APOD)
    - Comet vs. Mars (to scale!) (NASA/Astronomy)
    - Rosetta views of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko: close-up 1 + close-up 2 + close-up 3 (APOD)
    - "Asteroid" Has Comet Tails (APOD)
    - Nikku: Comet or Dwarf Planet? (Astronomy)
    - Meteor Streams and Some Parent Comets (NASA)
    - Exocomets around Beta Pictoris (ESO)
    - Perseids from Above (APOD)
    - 1992 Peekskill Fireball Video (APOD)
    - 2013 Chelyabinsk Fireball (YouTube)
    - Spinning Meteorite? (APOD)
    - Radio Detection of Meteors (Gualtieri)
    - Zodiacal Light + Pleiades + Orion (APOD)
    - Jupiter + Venus Conjunction with Zodiacal Light (APOD)
    - Zodiacal Light + Southern Milky Way (APOD)
    - All-Sky Zodiacal Light (APOD) : compare to All-Sky Milky Way (APOD)
- Wed 21 Sep
  - See schedule for reading, problems, exam #2 on Monday!
  - PhET Radioactivity Demos:
    - Radioactive Dating Game - U-235 ensemble decay
    - Alpha Decay Mode - close-up view of single nucleus
    - Beta Decay Mode
  - Rocky Planets: Water + Air
    - Green Flash at the Golden Gate (APOD)
    - Moonbow (APOD)
    - Noctilucent clouds (APOD)
    - Sprite Video (APOD) + More info (Wikipedia)
    - Water on Earth: total comparable to large ice moon (APOD)
    - Usable water on Earth: illustration + breakdown (USGS)
    - Carbon Cycle (physicalgeography.net)
    - Earth Weather Movie (NOAA)
    - Chapter 9 Nebraska Simulations - Atmosphere Retention
    - PhET Gas Properties Demo
    - Greenhouse Effect
      - PhET Greenhouse Effect Demo
      - IPCC highlights (Guardian)
      - Personalized climate predictions (Guardian)
      - IPCC official report (IPCC)
      - IPCC Synthesis Report (Guardian)
    - CO2 on Earth - 1-year model (NASA)
  - Near-Space + Aurorae
    - Gravity Waves in Airglow (APOD)
    - Auroral Corona (APOD)
    - Greenland Aurora (APOD)
    - Iceland Aurora (APOD)
    - Norway Aurora (APOD)
    - Norway Aurora Movie (APOD)
    - Yellowknife aurora (APOD) + video (Vimeo)
    - Prairie Aurora (APOD UK)
    - Halloween Aurora (APOD) (see also this one)
    - Aurora with Foreground Clouds (APOD)
    - Burning Up (NASA movie)
    - Flying over Earth at Night (APOD Video)
    - High-Def Earth Aurora Video (ISS)
    - Jupiter Aurora + UV Movie (Hubble)
    - Saturn Aurora Movie (Cassini)
  - Gas Giants
    - Luna and Jupiter (APOD)
    - Jupiter Rotation (YouTube video)
    - Great Red Spot + Hot Spots (YouTube)
    - Red Spot = Sunburn? (Astronomy.com)
    - Juno First Results (Guardian)
    - Hubble Images Jupiter Aurorae (NASA/STScI)
    - Jupiter X-ray Aurora (Astronomy/UCL)
    - VLA Images Jupiter Atmosphere (NRAO)
    - Saturn from above (APOD)
    - Saturn Storms + Hexagon + Polar Hurricane + Polar Vortex (NASA)
    - Saturn hexagon close-up false color detail (APOD)
    - Saturn Retrospective (APOD/Cassini)
    - Uranus Seasonal Variations (Wikipedia)
    - Neptune Rotation (APOD)
    - Tropopause similarities explained (AIP) + paper (arXiv)
  - Giant Exoplanets
    - Atmosphere effects on exoplanet rotation (Ars)
    - "Warm Neptune" Exoplanets May Have Lots of Helium (Slashdot)
    - Subtle Gas Physics Affects on Planetary and Stellar Evolution (Astronomy.com)
    - Jupiter assembling: planet 96 light years away hints at how gas giants form (Guardian)
    - Hot Earths -- Hot Jupiter Remnants? (Astronomy.com)
- Tue 20 Sep
  - Tonight we are doing the Moon Orbit Lab (indoors)
  - Please continue working on your take-home observing labs as conditions allow.
- Mon 19 Sep
  - Announcements
    - Seminar Today: Gamma-Ray Bursts! - 4:00pm, TCCW 201
    - Heavy reading schedule this week
    - Exam #2 on Monday next week!
    - Lab tomorrow - TBD
    - Earth Equinox (APOD short video)
    - Saturn Equinox (APOD)
  - Impacts
    - Lake Manicouagan Wikipedia Photos + Google Map
    - Middleboro, KY Crater (Wikipedia)
    - Tunguska Event (Wikipedia)
    - Sudbury Basin + Eroded Impact Structures (Wikipedia)
  - Earth Crust
    - Everything you need to know about Earth (YouTube)
    - Plate tectonics animations (Berkeley)
    - Visible Paleo-Earth (Planetary Habitability Lab)
    - Hawaii Volcanic Hotspot (Wikipedia)
    - Volcano Explosivity Index + Supervolcanoes (Wikipedia)
    - Yellowstone Bow Shock (USGS)
    - Milky Way over Yellowstone (APOD)
  - Oddities
    - Earth + Moon in Perspective (APOD)
    - Modified Moon Formation Theory (Astronomy)
    - Lunar Magma Tunnels Found? (GRAIL/Astronomy.com)
    - Lunar Swirls - Solar wind erosion? (APS)
    - Dark Martian Dunes (APOD/NASA)
    - Martian Illusion (APOD)
    - Ancient Mars Tsunamis (PSI)
    - Mercury Day (60sAiA video)
    - Mercury Rotation Complications (Messenger/Astronomy)
    - Ice on Mercury (APOD)
    - Hints of Mercury's Active Core? (Astronomy.com)
    - Dynamo Simulation (Science News)
- Fri 16 Sep
  - Heavy reading schedule next week!
  - Retrograde Mars + Saturn (APOD)
  - Interactive Simulation: Lunar Lander (PhET)
  - Solar System Formation
    - Chapter 7 Nebraska Simulations - protoplanetary nebula temperature, habitable zone
    - Extrasolar asteroid smash-up (Spitzer) + astronomy.com
  - Extrasolar Planets
    - Exoplanet Travel Bureau (NASA/JPL/Planetquest)
    - Named Exo-Worlds (IAU)
    - Kepler Planet Candidates, 2011
    - Exoplanet Detection Methods, 2012
    - Chapter 7 Nebraska Simulations - protoplanet transit, velocity
    - Extrasolar Planet Encyclopedia - plot semimajor axis vs. mass, etc.
    - Habitable Exoplanets Catalog
    - Kepler Orrery (APOD)
    - News Articles
      - Prox Cen b Discovery (Astronomy) + Paper + Pale Red Dot Project + JWST Prospects
      - Habitable system around M8 dwarf? Ars Technica + Nature article
      - Dual-habitable system? (Guardian) + (Astronomy)
      - Four Rocky Exoplanets in Same System (Astronomy/Kepler)
      - Super-Earth Lava World (Astronomy/Spitzer)
      - Eccentric Exoplanet - Transitional Hot Jupiter? (Astronomy/JPL)
      - Kepler exoplanet catalog doubled (NASA/Astronomy)
      - Kepler 78b, Vacation Hotspot (APOD)
      - Star swallowing its own planets (CfA)
      - Expolanet flavors (CfA)
      - Mega-Earth (CfA)
      - Diamond Planets - Too Dry? (astronomy.com)
      - Misaligned Exoplanets (astronomy.com)
      - Free-floating planet found (U. Hawaii)
- Wed 14 Sep
  - Announcements
    - Hilltoppers Astronomy Club meets TONIGHT @ 5:30pm, TCCW 118
    - Saturn occultation (APOD)
    - Moonrise Silhouettes (APOD video) - note time, direction - where is this?
    - "Super"-moon (APOD)
  - Material
- Tue 13 Sep
  - Tonight we will do the Spectroscope Lab (indoors).
    - Blank screen PPT for spectroscope observation
  - Please continue working on your take-home observing labs as conditions allow.
- Mon 12 Sep
  - Announcements
    - Exam #1 graded - will hand back at end of class
    - Intensive reading schedule on Solar System - be aware!
    - Lab Tomorrow, 8:00pm - TBD
    - Still a good time to do Lunar Phase/Motion lab!
    - Mars, Antares, and Rho Ophiuchus (APOD)
    - Comet Lander Philae Found (APOD) + Ars
  - Materials
    - Chapter 3 Nebraska Simulations - Solar system models, Ptolemaic orbits, eccentricity, Kepler's Laws
- Wed 7 Sep
  - Announcements
    - Exam #1 (Ch 1 2 5 6) - Fri 9 Sep - review problems
    - Quiz on Ch 3 - Mon 12 Sep
  - Materials
    - Lunar phases and libration
    - Inconstant Moon - more details
    - Telescopes
      - Sagittarius Starscape - Galileo's telescope revolution (APOD)
      - Chapter 6 Nebraska Simulation - virtual telescope
      - More H-alpha Images
        
        Horsehead nebula region (APOD)
        Orion overview (APOD)
        Orion Nebula (HST) (APOD)
      - Multiwavelength Sky (powerpoint)
      - A Look at Real Data (Kvis demo)
- Tue 6 Sep
  - Tonight should be clear enough for an outdoor observing lab.
    - Please meet at 8:00pm at TCCW 201.
    - We will do the Angular Scale Lab on the roof of TCCW.
    - Anyone not finished with the Navigation Lab can also work on that.
    - Lunar map resources:
      - Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project Interactive Atlas
      - Courtney Seligman - Lunar Maps
      - Google Moon - Cartesian Projection Photo Mosaics
      - Rotating Moon - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, APOD
      - Whole-Moon Topography Video (LRO)
    - Other: Ring Nebula Sketch
    - Replace the Moon - Relative Sizes (YouTube video)
  - Please continue working on your take-home observing labs as conditions allow.
  - Note: evenings this week should be perfect for the Moon Phase lab!
- Wed 31 Aug
  - Announcements
    - Mon 5 Sep - no class; Labor Day
    - Wed 7 Sep - Quiz on Ch 6 - see block schedule
    - Fri 9 Sep - Exam 1 on Ch 1 2 5 6
      - Make sure you can do HW problems!
      - Also review in-class examples!
  - Material
    - Chapter 2 review
    - Wave Animations:
    - Wikipedia: Electromagnetic Spectrum
    - The Moon in X-rays (ROSAT)
    - Images, Articles, and Tools
      - Emission Spectrum Examples (Hydrogen, Iron)
      - Types of Spectra and Processes
      - Hydrogen Excitation Models - (PhET demo)
      - Discharge Lamp Emission - (PhET demo)
      - Doppler Shift (link fixed!)
    - Blackbody Radiation
      - Blackbody Radiation (Wikipedia)
      - Planck Function (Wikipedia)
      - Blackbody Radiation (PhET demo)
      - Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum (COBE)
      - Cosmic Microwave Background Maps (COBE)
Tue 30 Aug
- Tonight we will complete the Night Sky Navigation Lab.
  - Please bring your planispheres and lab instructions from last week.
Mon 29 Aug
- Assignments
  - Read Chapter 5 for Wed 31 Aug - see block schedule
  - Homework problems
  - Laboratory
    - How are #1 and #2 coming? Any luck yet? - see lab schedule
    - Meet tomorrow night at 8:00pm in TCCW 201
    - Do observing or indoor lab, depending on conditions
- Material
  - Earth and Moon, to Scale (APOD)
  - Elusive Totality (APOD)
  - Sunrise Eclipse, NY (APOD)
  - Solar Eclipse Spectrum (APOD)
  - 2017 August 21 Total Solar Eclipse: Astronomy.com + Ars + WKU + GreatAmericanEclipse.com + Eclipse2017.org + Google Maps
  - StudySpace Chapter 2 Simulations
Wed 24 Aug
- READING QUIZ on Chapter 5 (light) - Wed 31 Aug (skip 3 + 4 for now)
- Sky motion
- BREAKING NEWS: Earth-mass habitable-zone exoplanet found around Proxima Centauri! (Astronomy/Nature)
Tue 23 Aug
- Lab 1: Planisphere and Night Sky Navigation
  1. Make your own planisphere!
    - Sky & Telescope Star Wheel (handouts)
    - Uncle Al's Planisphere
    - Classic (and more durable) Edmund Scientific Star + Planet Locators are available from the WKU Bookstore for $4!
    - Optional: Radio Sky Planisphere!
  2. Take planispheres up to roof to view stars
  3. Complete lab in next 2 weeks if possible
- Lab 2: Lunar Phases and Daily Motion
  - See handouts for instructions
  - Note need multiple nights' observations from same location!
  - Moon is waning gibbous currently:
    Can do this week in morning, or evening starting in ~ 10 days (Sep 5)
- Perseids
  - Yosemite
  - MAGIC
  - Andromeda
  - Space Station (Astronomy)
- Planetary Viewing
  - Ideal Case (TWAN)
  - Jupiter: last chance?
Mon 22 Aug
- Introduction to ASTR 214
- Review Syllabus (see handout)
- READING QUIZ on Kay, Chapters 1 + 2 (intro + sky) - Wed 24 Aug
- Problem Set 1: see block schedule for this and other details
- 1st Laboratory Meeting 7:00pm(?) Tue 23 Aug, TCCW 201
  - Discuss later meeting time for darker sky?
  - lab schedule will be updated throughout semester!
- Join the Hilltoppers Astronomy Club!
  - Talk to Dr. Laney
  - Meet 5:30pm 2nd Wed each month in TCCW 251 (next: Wed 14 Sep?)
- Join the Society of Physics Students!
  - Talk to Trason Carter or myself
  - Meet 5:30pm 1st Thu each month in TCCW 238 - free pizza! (next: Thu 1 Sep)
- Space is Big