Instructor: Prof. Andrew Cumming
Rutherford Physics Building 219
email: cumming-at-physics.mcgill.ca
Office hours: Wednesday 2-3pm; Thursday 11am-12
Time: MWF 11.35am-12.25pm, ENGMD 276
Room change:Starting on Monday Sep 16th, we will move to ENGMD 279.
The first lecture is on Wednesday September 4th.
Paul Scholz, Rutherford Physics 325, Office hour: Thursday 2pm-3pm, email: pscholz-at-physics-dot-mcgill-dot-ca)
Marc-Antoine Fiset, Rutherford Physics 306, Office hour: Wednesday 3pm-4pm, email: fisetmarcantoine-at-gmail-dot-com)
PHYS 182 is a general interest course in astronomy and astrophysics, with a focus on understanding our place in the Universe and how we came to be here, by discussing the evolution of the universe, and the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets.
The aims of the course are to
We will focus on general principles, understanding how things work and how different objects relate to each other in the Universe, rather than memorizing facts.
No scientific background is required. Quantitative numbers will be discussed, for example the size of astronomical objects and distances, using scientific notation (powers of ten). This will be described in the lectures, so if you are not familiar with scientific notation, don't worry about it.
The textbook for the course is The Cosmic Perspective by Jeffrey Bennett, Megan Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, and Mark Voit (Benjamin Cummings, 7th Edition, 2013), and should be available at the Paragraphe bookstore in the first week of class. The 5th edition or the 6th edition of the book will also work (please let me know if you are using the 5th or 6th editions, because the question numbers are sometimes different from those in the 7th edition).
Each week I will assign reading from those parts of the text related to the topics discussed in lecture. We will cover material from almost every chapter in the book (although probably only about half the material overall). We will not be discussing the "mathematical insight" sections of the textbook, you should skip these in your reading (you are not expected to calculate anything in this course).
Your final grade will be based on weekly homework (30%), two midterms (20% each), and a final exam (30%). The final will replace one of the midterms (i.e. One midterm score is discarded and the final is worth 50%) if it improves your grade.
Homeworks will be posted on myCourses each Friday and due the following Friday. Homework must be submitted electronically on myCourses as a PDF file. Late homeworks will not be accepted. Solutions will be posted on myCourses. If you have questions about the homework grading, the TA will be able to help you (if you still have questions after seeing the TA, please come and ask me). The homework is designed to test your understanding of material from the lectures and the reading and to prepare you for the exams. You are encouraged to discuss the homework with other students in the course, but you should make sure that the homework you hand in represents your personal understanding of the questions.
The midterm and final exams will be multiple choice exams. The first midterm will be on October 4th (in class), and will cover the first 1/3 of the course. The second midterm will be on November 8th (in class) and will cover the second 1/3 of the course. The final exam will be comprehensive and cover all material from the course.
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (more information). In accord with McGill University's Charter of Students' Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the University's control, the content and/or evaluation scheme in this course is subject to change. Additional policies governing academic issues which affect students can be found in the McGill Charter of Students' Rights.