AST 102 - Astronomy Beyond the Solar System

▲ = Fulfills a General Education Requirement
This course, which does not require any prior astronomy, provides a survey of the nature and underlying physics of objects outside the solar system, including stars, constellations, galaxies, and the universe. The brightness and spectral (color) classes of stars are investigated along with the life history of typical stars. The course then covers how stars are clustered into galaxies, and the relationships of galaxies to each other in the universe. This course includes a laboratory section that has experiments and activities specifically designed to facilitate knowledge acquisition of course subject matter. In the William Miller Sperry Observatory, the spectroscope is employed to examine spectral lines of stellar gases. These lines tell us the stuff of which stars are made. Additional experiments cover items such as constellations, classification of stars, the Milky Way, and the structure of the universe. In doing the experiments using basic math, students discover anew what great astronomers of the past have found. Topics in optics, heat, gas laws, forces, relativity, and the atom are introduced. Certain labs can only be completed at Sperry Observatory on the Cranford campus – students unable to come to the Observatory for these labs can opt to do alternate labs. Students must register for a lab component of this course.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 096, if required
3 lecture hours and 3 laboratory hours per week
4 credit hours