Splash Biography

This course will serve as both an introduction to star-based & galactic astronomy and an introduction to telescopes. The first 45 minutes will be dedicated to an interactive briefer on astronomy, covering the formation and evolution of stars and galaxy formation. Then, after a short chat about our knowledge of telescopes, we will mosey up to the Ryerson roof to use UChicago's 6" reflector dedicated to student observation. We will observe and discuss the photosphere of the sun (assuming it's not cloudy, in which case we will look at nearby buildings), and with remaining time open the telescope up to student exploration.

An introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics for all! Anybody with passion for physics and/or space science would be perfect for this course.

I'll take any questions you have on Astronomy and teach some of the basic concepts behind how the universe works. Then, in the second hour of class, we'll play a space-themed game using the knowledge learned in the first half, asking conceptual and computational questions about Astronomy.

This class is a simple introduction to the physics behind what makes the universe tick. It will be calculation-intensive, but only requiring a basic knowledge of algebra (a knowledge of simple trigonometric functions would be useful). Topics covered will include: Stellar radiation, finding the distance to galactic/extragalactic objects, gravitation and binary systems.