Overview
Description
Descriptive introduction to current concepts of the solar system. Modern observational techniques and their results. Supplementary use of telescopes and planetarium facilities.
Requirements
Prerequisites
- Completion of the Core Math requirement
- SAT score of 630
- ACT score of 27
- Accuplacer QAS score of 276
- AAF of 276
- [ALEKS PPL](https://www.unr.edu/testing-center/examinations/aleks) of 61
- Corequisite
Corequisites
MATH 126MATH 127MATH 128MATH 176MATH 181
Units
Lecture3
Catalog Details
Offering
Offered: Every Fall and Spring
Terms
fall, spring
Core
CO4L
Attributes
Standard
Learning Outcomes
- explain natural and physical phenomena predicted and observed, such as sunspots, red- and blue-shifted spectra from “star-light”, supernovae, and colliding galaxies, and the role of nuclear fusion in producing most of the light and heat from the Sun and the other stars.
- judge the relative temperatures of stars observed using a telescope and, for stars on the main sequence of the H-R diagram, deduce relative main sequence lifetimes of stars, their relative masses, their relative luminosities, their relative absolute magnitudes, and their relative surface temperatures.
- (on a clear night, at a location in the Northern Hemisphere), determine the latitude by observing Polaris, the North star, and in addition determine the North, South, East, and West directions.
- calculate the magnifying powers of simple astronomical telescopes, given the appropriate information.
- estimate the relative resolving powers of simple astronomical tele- scopes, given the appropriate information.
- calculate the f/number of simple astronomical telescopes given the appropriate information and explain the utility of knowing the f/number of a simple telescope.
- determine the phases of the Moon by looking at it, and to so determine how far along the Moonth (old Anglo-Saxon word for month after which our Moon is named) is.
- formulate questions, and analyze scientific evidence, to discriminate between sound and unsound claims, for example comparing and contrasting different hypotheses regarding the origin and evolution of the universe.