Astronomy 40 (Solano Community College--Dr. Philip S. Petersen)

TEXTS: The Cosmic Perspective: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology, by Bennett, et. al., 7th Edition. 
Power points online: at http://empyreanquest.bodymindandpassion.com/Astr 40/astr40.htm.  
Also, Cosmic Acceleration first 8 chapters–my book. Free online version only: http;//empyreanquest.bodymindandpassion.com/science/cr/cr.htm.   Let me know if you have no online access, and I’ll have a copy printed. 

HELP!  See me during my office hours, or send me e-mail at synchrofil@aol.com.  Office hrs: 		MW 11:15-12 am, Rm. 308 (our classroom).

ATTENDANCE: From experience, your grade will suffer if you often skip class. In borderline cases, I may evaluate attendance & participation. I may also drop after 6 non-consecutive hours of absence.

COURSE WORK:      (Turn off cell phones before entering class)
     1.  GRADING BREAKDOWN:     	
		(Field trip 3% boost to grade)        	     OVERALL:	
          Homework                      	20%              85-100%   A                   	   	75-84%     B
          3 Hour Exams		        50%			60-74%     C
          Essay                              3%          		50-59%     D    
          Final                        	27%                    <50%     F
				     Total    100%                     	 
     2. Homework sets are available at the end of the Syllabus.  These are 3 sample hour 	exams, and each is due at the beginning of the hour exam period.  Absolutely no 	homework will be accepted late, as I will be revealing solutions.  If you are absent, 	find someone to turn it in for you.  Find a buddy, and take their phone number.  Not 	turning in homework may hurt your grade. Homework questions will be answered at the 	beginning of the period.  
    3.  Hour exams will be closed book, closed notes, and consist of: (1) 20 true or false, (2) 30                 	multiple choice, 2 points each. You must attend or get notes or tape of exam review 	session at meeting preceding exam. 
    5. The final will be 40 true or false questions, 60 multiple choice. It will be comprehensive,                	emphasizing any subjects after 3rd exam, but material will be covered in review.  
     6.  Essay:  An Extra Credit two page, typewritten essay on the first eight chapters of my book, Cosmic Acceleration, will be due at the time of the final and 
will give as much as a 3% boost to your overall grade. Free online version: http://empyreanquest.bodymindandpassion.com/science/cr/cr.htm.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: (Please read ahead from both sources. One field trip.)
WEEK: (Chapter numbers from The Cosmic Perspective by Bennett, etc.)
   1.  Developing Perspective: Our Place & Your Place in the Universe (Chs.1 & 2)
   2.  Developing Perspective: The Science of Astronomy (Ch. 3, Ch. S1)
   3.  Key Concepts for Astronomy: Physics, Gravity and Light (Chs.4 and 5), Exam Review I
   4.  Telescopes (Ch. 6), Exam I:  Chs.1-5.
   5.  A Deeper Look at Nature: Relativity (Chs. S2 and S3)
   6.  Atoms and Quantum Theory (Ch. S4)
   7.  Stars: The Sun, Stellar Survey (Chs.14 & 15), Exam Review II
   8.  Stars: Star Birth, Star Stuff (Chs.16 & 17), Exam II, Chs.6, S2-4, 14, 15.
   9.  Stars: The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard and Black Holes (Ch. 18)  
  10-11. Galaxies: The Milky Way, the Bigger Picture (Chs.19, 20)
  12.  Cosmology: Galactic Evolution, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Fate of the Universe 
        (Ch. 21, 22), Exam Review III
  13. Cosmology:  The Beginning of Time & Life in the Universe (Ch. 23, Ch. 24) Exam III, Chs.16-22
  14.  Cosmology:  A Historical Perspective (Read my book, Cosmic Acceleration, online)
  15.  Cosmology: The Latest Theories (Read Cosmic Acceleration online), Final Review
  16.  Final:  Comprehensive.

Power Point lectures: All my lectures are available online as Power Point Presentations. Go to: http://empyreanquest.bodymindandpassion.com/Astr_40/astr40.htm. ( _ means empty space.)
SUCCESS: The six keys to success in my course in order of importance are as follows:
1.  Learn the terminology!  If you live in foreign country it really helps to learn the        language.  I suggest you learn Astronomese.  Get some blank flash cards or 3x5 cards         from the bookstore, and write the term on one side and its definition on the other.               Then test yourself until you can give the definition by looking at the term.
                Example: Supernova–exploding star.
	If you DON’T study the terminology before the Final Exam Review,
       you run a good chance of FAILING the exam, as it is detailed and challenging.
	2.  Attend the Exam Reviews: they will be announced at least a week ahead of 		time. Stay tuned. 
3.  Attend class.  You may be dropped if you miss six hours of class. Let me know if           you are going to miss more than one week.  Attending class is VERY important                  during the section on Stars, as the take-home depends on what I give you in class, and       you are allowed to ask questions (though I may just give hints).
	4.  Do the assigned reading.

	5.  Do the homework in a timely fashion.  Once we finish a section, do the 10 questions
        relating to it. Ask questions on the homework at the beginning of class. I will open it
        up to homework questions at that time. 	
	6. Take advantage of the extra credit possibilities.
        You can get a 3% boost to your grade by attending our field trip to the Chabot Space 
        and Science Center in Oakland.  See www.chabotspace.org for directions, ticket                     	 prices, and schedule.  
CHEATING:  Any student caught cheating will receive a zero on that assignment and be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs.  I may ask the student to drop the course.  I have caught
students every semester lately–so don’t try it. I know the tricks and can spot them.	

ASTRONOMY 40---HOMEWORK I (New)

1.  Pluto is considered to be a planet.  (T or F)
2.  The angular diameter of the moon is:   A. ½ a degree, B.  1 degree,  C.  3 degrees,  D. 5 degrees.
3.  How many minutes of arc in a degree?   A. 10, B. 60, C. 360, D. 3600.
4.  A gigagram, if there were such a thing, would be how many grams?   A. a thousand, B. a million, C. a billion, D. a trillion.
5.  A parsec is the distance at which the earth and sun would appear to be one arc-second apart.  (T or F)
6. A new planet is discovered and has an angular diameter of 1.5 arcsec.  By bouncing radar off it and timing is return we find it to be 250,000,000 km away.  What is the diameter of this planet (rounded off)?    A. 12.6 km,  B.  540 km,  C.  1820 km,  D. 4850 km, E. 10,260 km.
7. The Astronomical Unit (AU) is useful for denoting distances within the solar system.  (T or F)
8. Because light takes appreciable time to get to us from distant objects, a telescope lets us look into the past.     (T or F)
9. If the north star is 40 degrees from the horizon (as it roughly is in Fairfield, California), roughly how many fists with the arm extended could be placed over that angular distance side by side?   A. 2, B. 4, C. 8, D. 10.
10.  A hypothesis has always been well tested by observations and/or experiments. (T or F)
11. Naked eye astronomy is how well you see the sky without glasses or contacts.  (T or F)
12. Stars in a constellation are more or less all at the same distance.  (T or F)
13.  Stars rise in the east and set in the west, just like the sun, but 4 minutes/day faster.  (T or F)
14. The term diurnal means   A. hourly, B. daily, C. weekly, D. with respect to the stars.
15. The position of the constellation Auriga at 9 pm will have shifted about 14 degrees toward the west in 2 weeks.  (T or F)
16. The north star can be located by looking above the end of the cup of the Big Dipper, and when away from the light of the cities, at the end of                          A. the constellation Cassiopeia, B. Draco, the dragon, C. the handle of the Little Dipper.
17. The three stars in the Belt of Orion point to the brightest star in the sky, which is   A. Betelgeuse,  B. Alpha Centauri, C. Dubhe,  D. Sirius.
18. Some Landmarks on the Celestial Sphere are projections of those on earth, like the Celestial Equator and the North and South Celestial Poles.  (T or F)
19. Your latitude and the angular height of the celestial sphere above the horizon are identical. (T or F)
20. The earth's axis wobbles once as it orbits the sun once. (T or F)
21. The time it takes for a planet or moon to go from one opposition to the sun to another is called what period?   A. sidereal, B. synodic, C. orbital, D. rotational.
22. Copernicus came very close to calculating numbers close to the modern values for average distances from the sun.  (T or F)
23. Which planet has the longest orbital period with respect to the stars?     A. Mars, B. Jupiter, C. Saturn, D. Neptune.
24. The eccentricity, e, of planetary orbits increases as the orbits become more circular. (T or F)
25. A planet's semimajor axis is equal to is average distance from the sun (research this online--Google?).  (T or F)
26. The moon appears roughly the same size throughout its cycle of phases, but which planet did Galileo observe to change size through its phases? (therefore indicating it doesn't not orbit the earth, but rather the sun.)  A. Jupiter, B. Mars,    C. Venus, D. Neptune.
27. Isaac Newton's 3 Laws of Motion apply to things on earth, but not in space. (T or F)
28. The S. I. unit of force or weight is the   A. kilogram, B. pound, C. Newton,      D. dyne.
29. An object coming from outside the solar system, then leaving again moves in what trajectory (path)?  (Do research online.)  A. ellipse, B. parabola, C. hyperbola, D. circle.
30. Even galaxies can be distorted by tidal forces.  (T or F)
31. Galileo tried to measure the speed of light by communicating by his lantern with another one held by an assistant on a distant hilltop. Why would you guess he realized he had failed?    A. his assistant’s reaction time exceeded light travel time, B. fog, C. he didn’t have a clock accurate enough.
32.  If the wavelength of light is greater, the frequency is   A. lower, B. higher,      C. the same.     
33. A wavelength of 483 nanometers would be in what range?   A. infrared,           B. ultraviolet, C. gamma rays, D. visible.
34. A wavelength of a centimeter would be in what range?  A. visible, B. ultraviolet,  C. microwave, D. infrared.
35. To get Celsius from Kelvin temperature we subtract, how many degrees? (Check by Googling, if necessary.)    A. 32, B. 273, C. 1258.
36. A perfect absorber and emitter of electromagnetic radiation at all wavelengths is called   A. an emitatron, B. a photon,  C. a blackbody,  D. a fluke.
37. From Wien's Law, if we know the peak wavelength of a black body (like the sun), we can get it's   A. size, B. surface temperature, C. emission depth, D. age.
38.  The Stephan-Boltzmann Law says that the surface flux on a black body like the sun, changes how as the temperature increases?   A. rapidly increases, B. slowly increases, C. rapidly decreases, D. slowly decreases.   
39. The greatest number of watts a solar panel of 2 square meters could receive from the sun is   A. 1370 watts, B. 2740 watts, C. 150 watts.
40. Light comes in bundles or quanta of energy we call   A. quantodes, B. photons, C. gravitrons.
41. One of the greatest advantages of a telescope is that it can gather more light than the naked eye can, allowing it to pick up fainter, more distant objects in the sky. (T or F)
42. The speed of light in air and glass is the same. (T or F)
43. Light exits a flat pane of glass in the same direction it entered. (T or F)
44. The objective (big) lens in a refracting telescope is located roughly its focal length plus what distance away from the eyepiece lens?  A. the diameter of the eyepiece, B. the focal length of the eyepiece, C. the magnification expressed in cm.
45. If I double the diameter of the objective mirror or lens of a telescope, what happens to the light gathering power (resulting in what ability to see faint objects)?   A. it doubles, B. it quadruples, C. it is halved.
46. Lenses suffer from chromatic aberration, but mirrors do not. (T or F)
47. There are certain wavelengths of light that are blocked by an objective lens, but not by an objective mirror. (T or F)
48. In a telescope with a Newtonian focus, the observer is looking in the direction of the object viewed. (T or F)
49. Inexpensive telescopes are made with spherical mirrors, but large ones have distorted images because of   A. chromatic aberration, B. spherical aberration,         C. absorption of certain wavelengths.
50. One reason to place a telescope on a tall mountain is to avoid large amounts of  A. spherical aberration, B. atmospheric turbulence, C. solar interference.

ASTRONOMY 40—HOMEWORK II (New)

1.  All of Newton's notions of space and time are adequate to handle motion at all speeds. 
     A. True    B.  False

2.  General Relativity gives us a new perspective on the force of Gravity. 
     A. True    B.  False

3.  Events happening at the same time (simultaneous) in one frame of reference are simultaneous in all frames of reference. 
     A. True     B.  False

4.  In the PowerPoint on Space and Time, it says that the laws of physics and the speed of light are the same for everyone.  This is not true.  (Do Googling research.)  It is only true for observers 
   A.   in accelerated motion.    B   in inertial motion at a constant speed or at rest. 
   C.  at rest.    D.  on the earth. 

5.  There is a speed limit in the universe.  It is the speed of light and holds only for entities          
   A. with mass     B. without mass, like light.   C. like fields.   D. accelerated slowly. 

6.  If I shine a flashlight forward on a spacecraft moving at 1/2 c (the speed of light), an observer at rest will observe the light to move 
   A.  1 1/2 c.     B.  c.    C.  1/2 c. 

7.  In the Special Theory of relativity time is slowed down (time dilation) a lot for an observer 
      A.  at rest.    B.  moving a lot more slowly.      C. a rapidly moving observer. 

8. The famous formula specifying that mass can be converted into light energy and vice versa,                   E = mc(squared), can be derived from 
      A.  Newton's Laws.      B.  the formula for addition of velocities. 
     C.  the formula for mass increase for a rapidly moving body. 

9. The universe could have a finite volume. 
   A. True    B.  False

10. Spacetime for the universe is unique. 
    A.  True   B.  False

11. The shortest path through spacetime from one place to another also takes the shortest time. 
    A.  True   B.   False

12. An object's path through spacetime is called its 
     A. worldline.     B. world track.   C.  spaceline.    D. geodesic. 

13. The flat and saddle-shaped universe are _____ in extent. 
   A. finite      B.  infinite       C.  finite in one direction, infinite in another. 
                                                                          
14. What is nearly infinite near the very center of a black hole? 
     A. Mass   B. Gravity   C.  The speed of light 

15. Gravitational time dilation in General Relativity says which clock runs faster? 
.      A.   A clock on Mount Everest.  B.  A clock at sea level on the earth 
     C.  A clock near the event horizon of a black hole

16. The reason the twin paradox is not reversible is that the twin who goes to the distant star 
    A.   is not accelerating.    B.  is accelerating.   C.  is an inertial observer. 

17. An electron in an atom can have any energy in its orbit. 
    A.  True     B.  False

18. An equal amount of matter and antimatter may annihilate and produce pure energy or light. 
     A. True     B.  False

19. A Fermion is a particle with integer spin like the photon. 
    A.  True      B.  False

20. In describing the nuclear force, neutron and protons are made up of three 
     A.  electrons.    B.  quarks.    C.  bosons. 

21. An electron is in which family of particles? 
       A. quarks    B. leptons    C.  partons    D.  baryons 

22. Neutrinos, have a _________ mass, no charge, and interact very seldom with matter.                                      A. large    B.  small    C.  non-existent 

23. In quantum theory, a particle can be described 
    A. only like a billiard ball with a definite location.     B.  by a wave of probability. 
     C.  as a probability wave packet.  D.  both 2 and 3 might fit. 

24. Two of these particles cannot occupy the same state at the same time (described by the same quantum numbers). This is called the Pauli Exclusion Principle. 
    A.  Bosons     B.  Fermions   C.   Photons 

25. If chemistry alone were producing the sun's energy it couldn't last more than roughly 10,000 years. 
    A. True    B. False

26. The sun is the size it is because inward pull of gravity is balanced by outward electric repulsion.   A. True    B. False

27. Sunspots are cooler than other regions of the sun's surface, but have stronger magnetic fields.              A.  True    B.  False

28. The stronger the magnetic field in a region of the sun, the more certain spectral lines split to different energies.  This relationship is call the 
    A.  magnetic split..    B.   Zeeman effect.    C.  Helmholtz contraction. 

29. From the PowerPoint, the year with the greatest solar activity (most sunspots) in the last hundred years was: 
  A.   1947      B.    1959       C.   2002 
30. Solar flares are caused by increase in   A. magnetic activity.    B.  nuclear fusion in the sun's core.     C.  the sun's rapid rotation.    D.  the solar wind. 

31. The convection zone of the sun operates by 
      A. randomly bouncing photons gradually allowing energy to escape. 
      B.  hot portions of gas rising to the surface, and cool ones falling. 
      C.  heat transfer by contact of molecules. 

32. The reason for the low number of detections of which solar particle (at earth) was under dispute for a long time? 
     A. gamma rays   B.  electrons   C. neutrinos 

33. The apparent brightness of a star depends on both its luminosity and distance. 
    A. True  B. False

34. If you could move the sun twice as far away from the earth, it would have half the apparent brightness.      A. True     B. False

35. The parallax shift of all stars (except the sun) is less than an arcsecond, because one arcsecond of parallax corresponds to a distance of one parsec (3.2 LYR), and all stars are farther away. Closest is Alpha Centauri at 4.37 LYR.
   A. True   B. False

36. The hotter the star, the larger the peak or brightest wavelength of the thermal or black body radiation of its surface. 
      A. True     B. False

37. The temperature of the surface of the sun (the photosphere) is about      A. 3,000 K                                B. 5,800 K      C. 12,500 K      D. 20,000 K 
38. The more ionized the gases are in the surface of a star the _________ the temperature. 
    A. higher   B. lower   C. They are the same temperature with different ionization. 

39. A star with spectral type G like the sun, has its peak or brightest color as (look at chart in power points--don't just guess)     A. Yellow    B. Blue Green     C. Red 

40. For an object orbiting in a circle, if we know its orbital period p, we can get the mass of the thing it's orbiting by also measuring its       A.  just orbital speed. 
    B.  just orbital radius.     C.  Both 1 and 2 necessary.    D.  Either 1 or 2. 

41. Can an object with a mass of 5% of the sun's become a star?  A. Yes   B. No                              C. Maybe, if it contracts enough. 

42. Matter in clouds that form stars in mostly monatomic, not in molecules.    A. True   B.  False

43. Carbon monoxide (CO) spectral lines tells us some of what we know about star-forming clouds.      A. True     B. False

44. Interstellar dust scatters blue light more than red light.     A. True     B. False

45. We cannot see stars in any wavelength through a dense, but moderate-sized dust cloud. 
     A.  True    B.  False

46. Newborn stars are often invisible in visible light, because they gather a cloud of _______ around them 
    A. gases like H and He     B. dust     C. planetesimals      D. rocks 

47. The minimum mass for a dense molecular cloud to start forming stars is roughly 
      A. a few solar masses    B. about 10 solar masses 
      C. a few hundred solar masses    D. a few thousand solar masses 

48. The outward resistance to the inward pull of gravity, as a cloud starts to collapse to form a star, comes from        A. outward pressure due to emission    B. magnetic field 
    C. gas turbulence    D. all the above 

49. Stars formed early in the universe were, on the average, ____________ than stars forming now.   A.  more massive     B. less massive    D.  in the same mass ranges 

50. Before it kindles nuclear fusion as star is called      A. an embryonic star     B. a protostar 
      C. a baby star 

ASTRONOMY 40, HOMEWORK III (new)

1. The higher a star's mass, the higher its core temperature. (T or F)

2. Higher mass stars on the main sequence have lower luminosities. (T or F)

3. Star clusters have stars of different masses, born about the same time. (T or F)

4. Stars with lower mass have shorter lifetimes. (T or F)

5. A low mass star which finishes fusing all the H to He in its core, leaves the main sequence contracts, and soon      A. begins the cooling off phase as a white dwarf. 
      B. burns He in its core.   C. becomes a protostar. 

6. In the next phase after the main sequence, a star becomes 
    A. larger.      B. redder.      C. more luminous.    D. A and C.    E. A, B, and C. 

7. In helium fusion, how many He nuclei fuse to make carbon? 
     A. 2     B. 3     C. 4     D. 5 

8. For a low mass star:  after helium fusion begins, is stabilized, and the red giant shrinks a bit, then the star is on what path in the HR diagram? 
     A. The helium flash     B.  the main sequence   C.  the horizontal branch 
9. The ejection of 10-20% of the mass of a low mass star into space when Helium burning is completely finished produces a colorful glowing gas cloud with a white dwarf in the center.  This glowing cloud is called 
   A.  A Planetary Nebula    B.  A Red Giant     C.  A Reflection Nebula    D.  A Brown Dwarf 

10. A White Dwarf, the death state of a low mass star, is made of Carbon and a little 
   A. H        B. He      C. O (Oxygen)      D. Fe (Iron) 

11. The CNO process rather than the P-P process dominates for He production in high mass stars.  (T or F)

12. The Big bang made a substantial amount of carbon by the triple-alpha process. (T or F)

13. Fluorine can be made by Helium capture. (T or F)

14. Iron is the heaviest element made in abundance in massive stars. (T or F)

15. Higher abundance of elements with an even number of protons is an indication of 
   A. alpha decay.     B. helium capture.     C. proton escape. 

16. Electrons in the presence of great pressure can be squeezed into protons to make 
    A. electrons.     B. helium atoms.     C. neutrons. 

17. The closest supernova in 4 centuries is called 
    A. Supernova I.     B. Supernova 1987A.    C. the Branch Supernova. 

18. The Pauli Exclusion principle which says that no two electrons can occupy the same state, means that electrons need a certain amount of space.  This is what holds up a White Dwarf against further collapse and is called 
     A. electron degeneracy.     B. Hydrogen pressure.    C. neutral electrical pressure. 

19. Higher mass White Dwarfs are  ___________  than lower mass. 
    A. larger    B. smaller   C. the same same size 

20. A White Dwarf cannot be more massive than 
    A. the sun.     B. 1.4 solar masses.    C. Jupiter. 

21. A white dwarf in a companion sitiuation may gain enough mass to get hot enough for a sudden nuclear explosion called a nova. (T or F)

22. A supernova explosion for a companion white dwarf happens when it is hot enough to fuse carbon into heavier elements.  This completely explodes the white dwarf. (T or F)

23. The light curve (versus time) for a massive star supernova (type II) and a white dwarf supernova (Type Ia) is the same. (T or F)

24. Electron degeneracy pressure outward is overcome by gravity's inward pull when a neutron star is made. (T or F)

25. The way we learned observationally that neutron stars existed was by observing 
   A. neutron spectra.    B. quasars.     C. pulsars. 

26. Which spins fastest:  a star, a white dwarf, a neutron star, the earth? 
    A. a star     B. a white dwarf     C. a neutron star     D. the earth 

27. Light can escape from a black hole, if the black hole is small enough. (T or F)

28. The surface of a black hole, at which the escape velocity is the speed of light is called 
    A. the singularity       B. the event horizon         C. the ergosphere 

29. A 3 solar mass black hole's event horizon is about the size of 
    A. a neutron star, or a small city     B. the sun      C. the earth's orbit 

30. The minimum mass for a stellar black hole (discovered by Robert Oppenheimer) is 
    A. the sun's mass       B. 3 times the sun's mass       C. 10 times the sun's mass 

31. Nearer the event horizon of a black hole, time passes 
    A. the same     B. slower      C. faster 

32. Besides having a gravitational effect of over 3 solar masses, a stellar black hole in companion will be a strong x-ray source. (T or F)

33. Gamma rays burst could NOT be caused by the formation of black holes. (T or F)

34. Dark lanes across the band of the Milky Way are truly devoid of stars. (T or F)

35. The spiral arm disk of the Milky Way is roughly how many light years across? 
    A.  10,000      B. 100,000      C. a million 

36. Stars in the disk of the Milky Way orbit in circles. (T or F)

37. There is a mass of about a hundred billion solar masses inside of the Sun's orbit about galactic center.  The sun' orbital radius and velocity tells us that.  (T or F)

38. Spiral arms of a spiral galaxy are waves of star formation passing through the interstellar medium.  (T or F)

39. The disk stars of the Milky Way formed before stars in the Halo.  (T or F)

40. The center of our galaxy most likely contains 
    A. numerous small black holes    B. a supermassive black hole   C. a verified wormhole 
    D. a low density of stars 

41. A spiral galaxy is composed of a halo, a disk, and a central bulge, or galactic nucleus. (T or F)

42. The disk of the galaxy contains only old stars. (T or F)

43. The center of the central bulge, or galactic nucleus, of a spiral galaxy contains old stars only, just like which type of galaxy? 
  A. Lenticular    B. Normal-sized Elliptical    C. Irregular    D.  Barred Spiral 

44. Edwin Hubble's arrangement of galaxy classes is called ___________ .  Search online to get name. 
    A. Hubble's Bubble     B. The Hubble Tuning Fork     C. The Hubble Telescope 

45. Supergiant elliptical galaxies are more common in which type of galactic cluster? 
    A. Large       B. Small       C. Medium 

46. For astronomers, Hubble's Law, a plot of recession velocity of distant galaxies versus distance, might just as well be plotted as recession velocity versus lookback time. (T or F)
47. The most evolved galaxies we see are also the most distant.  (T or F)

48. The lump of gas destined to create a galaxy--before stars are formed--is called 
    A. an embryonic galaxy.     B. a pre-galaxy.     C. a protogalactic cloud. 

49. What characteristic of the protogalactic cloud could determine the size of the resulting disk? 
    A. initial energy    B. initial momentum      C. initial angular momentum   D. initial lumpiness 

50. The epoch in which galaxies collide the most is 
    A. the current epoch.       B. the middle epoch of age.    C. the ancient epoch right after 	 formation.

SOLANO COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES PLAN (SLOs) 
Fill in all that apply:	 Unit: 		
	 Service:  			Last Updated: 1/25/11, Phil Petersen
	 Division: Math/Science
	 Program: General Science
	 Course: ASTR 040  –  Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology

Related Program Outcomes: Goals for students in taking Astronomy courses:
1.  To become aware of the place of Astronomy in the advancement of science.  ‘
2.  To prepare lifelong learners in Astronomy.
3.  To prepare students for upper division and graduate Astronomy courses.     
4.   To stimulate interest in Astronomy as a career, both in observational and theoretical fields.
5.  To develop a passion for watching the sky and keeping up with advances and events in Astronomy.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

1.	Define astronomical terminology related to stars, galaxies, and cosmology.
2.	Clarify and apply astronomical concepts related to stars, galaxies, and cosmology.
     3. Answer questions on astronomical concepts taken from astronomical writings and related to stars, galaxies, and 	cosmology.

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT:

1.	Weekly homework, at least three hour exams, and a final determine a student’s ability to 
	understand the terminology related to stars, galaxies, and cosmology. 
2.	Weekly homework, at least three hour exams, and a final determine how well a student can 
	 clarify and apply the concepts related to stars, galaxies, and cosmology.
3.  There will also be questions on the tests related to textbook material, assessing the 
	   students’ reading comprehension in the field.