Undergraduate - UnitASP1010 - Earth to cosmos - introductory astronomy

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Organisational Unit	School of Physics
Offered	Clayton First semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway

Synopsis

ASP1010 provides an introduction to, and understanding of, the nature of the solar system, our galaxy, and the cosmos beyond. The unit material will emphasize key concepts that will allow students to gain understanding of key astrophysical phenomena. The unit covers a wide range of topics that include the night sky, the historical development of astronomy, the solar system, comets and asteroids, the Sun, other stars, stellar remnants such as black holes, the Milky Way, other galaxies, quasars, dark matter, and cosmology.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Appreciate the scale of the Universe and Earth's place in it;

Describe the evolution and general properties of planets, solar systems, stars, and galaxies;

Apply laws of celestial motion and gravity;

Execute experiments involving telescopes and other simple apparatus and analyse, interpret and evaluate the results arising from them, including being able to describe the main features and performance of telescopes;

Present and communicate results of others and one's own experimentations in a scientific form.

Assessment

Examination (3 hours): 50%
Practical workshops: 25%
Project: 10%
Quizzes: 5%
Mid-semester assignment: 10%
Students must achieve a pass mark in the practical workshops to achieve an overall pass grade

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway

Workload requirements

Three 1-hour lectures and a 2-hour practical workshop/tutorial per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Astronomy and astrophysics

Prerequisites

No formal background in astrophysics is required.
However, secondary science to Year 11 is recommended.