Announcements ASTR26300 Fall 2008

Midterm 2 is in class hour on Tuesday Nov 4. Material covered will be chapter 3.4 through chapter 7. The midterm has the same format as midterm 1: 40 multiple choice questions. See practice midterm 1 for sample questions on chapter 3.4 to the end of chapter 4 and the first part of chapter 5. See practice midterm 2 for  the remainder of chapter 5, chapters 6 and 7. The last part of lecture on Thursday Oct 30 will be a review for midterm 2. Please arrive in good time on Tuesday Nov. 4 so the exam can start promptly. Good luck! Ian

I hope everyone is having a good fall break. Curt Coolidge pointed me to the link below. It was only a matter of time before a planet like this was found. There will be many more of these types of

I've had a number of e-mails asking about the midterm 1 scores

on CHIP. There were 40 questions on midterm 1 at 2.5 points each = 100 points The mean was 68 points = 68%  the standard deviation 13 points = 13%. We curved all scores up by  10 points = 10%,  to allow for four questions on the exam had misleading wording or were in other ways unclear according to students and in my opinion as well. The scores on CHIP include the extra 10 points. If your score looks wrong please let me know. Have a great Octoberbreak!

Ian

The Lab Syllabus has been updated to reflect the corrected CHIP login instructions that were distributed during lecture. 

There WILL be lab Monday November 24th and Tuesday November 25th.

There will be lab Wednesday October 15th and Thursday October 16th.

The lab midterm will be held the first twenty minutes of lab during the week of Oct. 20 - 23. 

The solutions to the first exam are posted under Exams.

Several students have requested I make available the shockwave flash animations used in class. You can find them under "Flash Animaitions" at this website.  To access this folder use a CAREER account and password. A variety of programs are available to view shockwave animations. If you have difficulties consult a local system expert. Enjoy!

Midterm 1 is Sept 30 in class hour.It is closed book, and 40 questions. There was a review in the second half of lecture 10. By a vote of the class midterm 1 only covers  that part of the syllabus covered in class by the middle of lecture 10: that was chapters 1,2,3 (3.1, 3.2, 3.3 )and S1.Typical questions are on the practice exam. Please note the practice exam covers more material than covered in class: chapters 1,2,3, including S1, 4 and 5. Question #48-85 and question #39 are on material from Chapter 3 sections 3.4, 3.5, chapter 4 and chapter 5.  This will  be covered in midterm2. Good luck! Ian 

Midterm 1 is Tuesday Sept 30 in class hour.It is closed book, and 40 questions. There will be a review in the second half of lecture 10.By a vote of the class today midterm 1 will cover only that part of the syllabus we will have covered in classby the middle of lecture 10:chapters 1,2,3 including S1, and chapter 4 section 1, 2 and 3. Typical questions are on the practice exam. Please note the practice exam covers chapters 1,2,3, including S1, 4 and 5.Questions #70 – #85 are chapter 5 you may ignore them for midterm 1.Questions #64 - #69 are on  chapter 4.4 and 4.5 you may ignorethem for midterm 1.  Good luck! Ian 

It is required that you have a lab manual for lab.  Do not forget to bring your manual with you when you come to lab.

The math review found on page 161 of the lab manual was assigned the first week of classes.  It is due at the beginning of lab the third week of classes, Sept 8 - 11.  If you need assistance, all TAs will be holding thier office hours this week.  You may speak with any TA for help.  You can find office hours as well as contact information under the TA Information Tab on the left side of the webpage.

There will be no lab for any night Sept 2 - 4, second week of classes.  Lab will resume as normal the third week of classes, Sept 8 - 11.

Welcome to Astronomy 263!

We hope you enjoy the course.

Ian and Andy 

If you have previously taken Astronomy 263 or 264 and you wish to transfer your old lab score, you need to attend lab during the first week of class, August 25 - 29.  The head TA for each night will have a sheet for you to fill out with the information necessary to retrieve your old score.

Be sure to attend the first lab which will be held during the first week of class, August 25 - August 29.  In addition, you are required to purchase a Lab Manual for the course but it is not necessary that you have one during the first week, August 25 - August 29.