Fully online, no synchronized meeting times.
This course is designed to introduce the non-science major to the basic concepts of astronomy. The student will examine the structure, properties, evolution and dynamics of earth, our solar system, stars, galaxies and the universe.
Course Alignment
General Education Outcomes are the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that students are expected to develop as a result of their overall experiences with any aspect of the college, including courses, programs, and student services, both inside and outside of the classroom. The General Education Outcomes specifically learned in this course are:
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
Faculty Contact Information
Thursday 12:30 - 1:30 L328
Or by appointment in person or virtual
Course Information
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the process of and apply the scientific method, detailing the role of hypothesis, prediction, experiment, and theory.
- Explain the motions in the night sky, the Sun-Earth-Moon system, and Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion.
- Describe structure and origin of the solar system and discuss the features and properties of the following: Sun, Moon, Earth, terrestrial planets, Jovian planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets.
- Describe stars, including our sun, in terms of their types, properties, location on Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams and discuss life cycle of stars based on their masses (low, intermediate, high).
- Describe the interstellar medium and the various types of nebulae.
- Describe the properties of black holes.
- Describe the characteristics of the different types of galaxies, including the Milky Way.
- Describe the large-scale structure of the universe.
- Discuss the Big Bang Theory and possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
- Introduction to Science and the Universe
- Define astronomy
- Scientific method, laws and theories
- Numbers in astronomy
- Light years
- Light and fundamental forces
- Quick tour of the universe
- Elements in the universe
- Timeline from the big bang to now
- Observing the Sky
- Celestial sphere
- Motions of stars, sun, moon and planets from earth
- Constellations
- Ancient Greek astronomers and their discoveries
- Discoveries/contributions of Copernicus and Galileo
- Orbits and Gravity
- Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
- Newton's Laws of Motion
- Universal Law of Gravitation
- Orbits of planets
- Asteroid and comets in our solar system
- Earth, Moon and Sky
- Latitude and longitude
- Right ascension and declination
- Reason for seasons
- Solar day
- Phases and motions of the moon
- Ocean tides and the moon
- Lunar and solar eclipses
- Radiation and Spectra
- Properties of light and the electromagnetic spectrum
- Spectral lines and composition of gases
- Structure of the atom
- Doppler effect
- Astronomical Instruments
- Optical and radio telescopes
- Hubble telescope
- Observations from outside earth's atmosphere
- Introduction to the Solar System
- Composition and structure of terrestrial and Jovian planets, moons, asteroids and comets
- Dating and origin of objects in the solar system
- Earth
- Earth's interior
- Magnetic field
- Crust
- Atmosphere
- Life on earth
- Greenhouse effect
- Cratered Worlds - The Moon and Mercury
- Properties of the moon, lunar surface and impact craters
- Origin of the moon
- Properties of Mercury
- Earthlike Planets - Venus and Mars
- Properties, Geology and atmosphere of Venus
- Properties, Geology, Water and life on Mars
- The Giant Planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- Composition, properties and characteristics
- Appearance and rotation of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
- Planetary Rings, Moons and Pluto
- Properties of major moons (Galilean, Titan and Triton)
- Ring systems of Jovian planets
- Pluto
- Comets and Asteroids
- Composition and types of asteroids
- Near-earth objects
- Oort cloud
- Kuiper belt
- Comets
- Origin of the Solar System
- Meteors and meteorites
- Formation of the solar system
- Other planetary systems
- Planetary evolution
- The Sun and its Structure and Properties
- Structure and composition of the sun
- Solar cycle
- Solar activity
- The Sun and its Energy
- Forms of, conservation and transformation of energy
- Matter and energy
- Atoms
- Nuclear forces and reactions
- Thermonuclear fusion
- Interior of the sun
- Equilibrium
- Energy balance
- Energy movement
- Analyzing Starlight
- Brightness, color, temperature and spectra of stars
- Using spectra to measure composition and motion of stars
- The Stars
- Physical properties including masses and diameters of stars
- Classification
- H-R diagrams
- Celestial Distances
- Metric system
- Astronomical unit
- Distances to stars
- Parallax
- Variable stars
- Interstellar Medium - Gas and Dust
- Properties of interstellar medium, gas, dust
- Star Formation
- Star formation
- Exoplanets
- Planet formation
- Life Cycle of Stars
- Life cycle of main sequence stars
- Red giants
- Star clusters
- Planetary nebulae
- Formation of chemical elements
- Massive stars
- The Death of Stars
- Death of low mass stars, Massive stars and supernova
- Pulsars and neutron stars
- Binary star systems
- Gamma-ray bursts
- Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
- Basic introduction to general relativity
- Gravity
- Warping of spacetime
- Blackholes and evidence of their existence
- The Milky Way Galaxy
- Structure and main components of Milky Way galaxy
- Stellar populations in the galaxy
- Formation of galaxy
- Galaxies
- Types of galaxies and their properties
- The expanding universe
- Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Blackholes
- a. Characteristics of quasars
- b. Super massive black holes
- The Evolutions and Distribution of Galaxies
- Distant galaxies
- Galactic collisions
- Distribution of galaxies
- Dark matter
- Formation and evolution of galaxies
- The Big Bang
- Age and expansion of the universe
- The beginning of the universe
- Cosmic microwave background
- Composition the universe
- Life in the Universe
- Conditions for life on earth
- Chemical building blocks of life
- Habitable environments
- SETI
OpenStax Astronomy Textbook: free for download from https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy
This link will be made available to you in our Canvas course and you may download it on your device.
A computer and internet access are required.
Evaluation
Homework/Activities------ 25%
Discussions------------------15%
Quizzes -----------------–--- 35%
Final Exam-------------------25%
Letter Grade A B C D F
Overall % 90 80 70 60 (less than 60%)
When computing report card grades, I round to the nearest whole number, so 69.5% rounds to a 70%, for a C, but 69.4%, which is a D, does not round up to a 70.
Liberal Arts & Sciences
Dean, Jennifer Huggins; 815-802-8484; R310; jhuggins@kcc.edu; Division Office- W102; 815-802-8700
This is an online course
You will work at your own pace, meaning there are no required meeting times. However, there are required weekly due dates for completing work. There are technology requirements. CANVAS will be used extensively.
Technology Requirements
This is an online course so computer and internet access are necessary. If you do not have the necessary technology, please let me know right away.
CANVAS will be used for everything
All course content and communications will be facilitated through the use of CANVAS, KCC’s learning management system. All courses at KCC use CANVAS to some extent. If you have taken a KCC course in a previous semester, you are probably familiar with CANVAS to some extent. If not, you may access the Student Passport to Online Learning in your CANVAS account which will introduce you to the components of CANVAS and online learning. When you log into CANVAS, you should see the Navigation Panel to the left. If you click on the Dashboard button, all of your classes will show up and Student Passport to Online Learning should be one of them. If you find yourself struggling with any component of online learning, please reach out to me as soon as the issue arises.
If you are struggling with the use of technology, please let me know and we can arrange a face-to-face meeting on campus so that I may help you with the use of the technology.
Communications
I will post weekly announcements in CANVAS; you will find them under the Announcements tab in the navigation panel to the left of the screen in CANVAS. I will also send emails in CANVAS. You may email me through CANVAS as well. It is very important that you check CANVAS Announcements and your CANVAS and KCC email often. Please only use your KCC/CANVAS email when emailing with me.
Modules/Course Work
All your course work will be housed in Modules in CANVAS.
You will be assigned an Orientation Module, which will be due by Thursday at 11:59 pm of the first week of classes.
Other modules will be posted on Mondays and will be due 8 days later on Tuesdays at 11:59 pm, so you will have just over a week to complete a weekly module. Sometimes, a discussion response will be due that Wednesday.
The last module of the semester, containing the final exam will be due by Thursday at 11:59 pm of the last week of classes, not the following Tuesday, so you will have less time to complete the last module.
For each Weekly Module students will usually do the following:
Reading assignment (4 chapters)/Watch short videos.
Homework/Activities
These will be based on the reading and videos. The activities will consist of discussions, essay questions, etc.
There will be an ongoing project that we will work on which will involve the student making a few observations of the night sky during the semester.
Quizzes
Quizzes are open-book/open notes and could contain a combination of multiple choice, short answer and/or essay. Quizzes will be timed. All of the Module activities leading up to the quiz are intended to prepare you for the quiz.
I will drop the 2 lowest quiz scores. The first missed quiz, will be considered the lowest score and will be dropped. If you miss a second quiz, that will be considered the second lowest score and it will be dropped. If you miss a third, fourth, etc. quiz, there will not be a chance for a make-up, the score will be a zero. If you take all quizzes, then the two lowest scores will be dropped.
Quizzes cannot be taken late. Quizzes will close/lock at the due date and time.
It is expected that students will not accept or give help or assistance regarding quizzes. Accepting or giving help regarding a quiz is considered cheating. Students may use their own course materials on quizzes.
Due Dates
It is expected that work will be turned in on time. Assume all assignments will lock at the due date and time. There will not be a chance to turn assignments in late.
Quizzes cannot be taken late. Once the due date/time has come, the quiz access will lock.
The final exam will not be accepted late.
Final exam
The student must complete the final exam to pass the course. The final exam will be due by 11:59 pm on Thursday of the last week of classes. The final exam can cover any material presented in this course.
It is expected that students will not accept or give help or assistance regarding the final exam. Accepting or giving help regarding the final exam is considered cheating. Students may use their own course materials on the final exam.
Academic Honesty
It is expected that you will turn in your own original work. Turning in anything but your own original work is plagiarism and is academically dishonest. Any instances of academic dishonesty could result in an F for the assignment grade, or, depending on the circumstance, an F for the course grade.
Turning in an AI generated work is considered plagiarism. As AI technology advances, so do tools to detect the use of AI generated work. There are plagiarism detection tools built into CANVAS to check student submissions as they are turned in.
Knowingly or even unknowingly portraying someone else’s work as your own or allowing someone else to portray your work as theirs is considered to be academic dishonesty. If ever you are not sure if a situation is considered to be honest or not, please reach out.
When assignments are submitted through CANVAS, many are automatically checked for plagiarism
through a feature called SimCheck.
If you are not familiar with the definition of Plagiarism, please review the definition from Dictionary.com here: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/plagiarism
See course policies
Week 1:
Introduction to the course
CH1-Science and the Universe
Define astronomy, scientific method, laws, theories, numbers in astronomy,
light years, light and fundamental forces, quick tour of the universe, elements in the universe, timeline from the big bang to now
CH2-Observing the Sky
Celestial sphere, motions of stars, sun, moon and planets from earth, constellations, Ancient Greek astronomers and their discoveries, discoveries/contributions of Copernicus and Galileo
CH3-Orbits and Gravity
Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion, Universal Law of Gravitation, orbits of planets, asteroid and comets in our solar system
CH4-Earth, Moon and Sky
Latitude and longitude, right ascension and declination, reason for seasons, solar day, phases and motions of the moon, ocean tides and the moon, lunar and solar eclipses
Week 2:
CH5-Radiation and Spectra
Properties of light and the electromagnetic spectrum, spectral lines and composition of gases, structure of the atom and the Doppler effect
CH6-Astronomical Instruments
Optical and Radio telescopes, Hubble Telescope, Observations from outside Earth’s atmosphere
CH7-Intro to the Solar System
Composition and Structure of terrestrial and Jovian planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Dating and origin of objects in the solar system
CH8-Earth as a Planet
Earth’s interior, magnetic field, crust, atmosphere, life on Earth, Greenhouse effect
Week 3:
CH9-Cratered Worlds
Properties of the Moon, lunar surface, impact craters, origin of the Moon, Properties of Mercury
CH10-Earthlike Planets
Properties, geology and atmosphere of Venus, Properties, geology, water and life on Mars
CH11-The Giant Planets
Composition, properties, characteristics, appearance and rotation of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
CH12-Rings, Moons and Pluto
Properties of Major moons (Galilean, Titan and Triton) and ring systems of Jovian planets, Pluto
Week 4:
CH13-Comets and Asteroids
Composition and types of Asteroids, near-Earth objects, Oort cloud, Kuiper belt and comets
CH14-Origin of the Solar System
Meteors, meteorites, formation of the solar system, other planetary systems and planetary evolution
CH15-The Sun: A Garden Variety Star
Structure and composition of the sun, solar cycle, solar activity
CH16-The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse
Forms of energy, conservation and transformation of energy, matter and energy, atoms, nuclear forces and reactions, thermonuclear fusion, interior of the sun, equilibrium, energy balance and energy movement
Week 5:
CH17-Analyzing Starlight
Brightness, color, temperature and spectra of stars, using spectra to measure composition and motion of stars
CH 18-The Stars: A Celestial Census
Physical properties including masses and diameters of stars, classification, H-R diagrams
CH19-Celestial Distances
Metric system, Astronomical Unit, distances to stars, parallax, variable stars
CH20-Between the Stars: Gas and Dust
Properties of interstellar medium, gas, dust
Week 6:
CH21-The Birth of Stars
Star formation, exoplanets, planet formation
CH22-Stars from Adolescence to Old Age
Life cycle of main sequence stars, red giants, star clusters, planetary nebulae, formation of chemical elements, massive stars
CH23-The Death of Stars
Death of low mass stars, massive stars and supernova, pulsars and neutron stars, binary star systems and gamma-ray bursts
CH24-Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
Basic introduction to general relativity, gravity, warping of spacetime, Blackholes and evidence for their existence
Week 7:
CH25-The Milky Way Galaxy
Structure and main components of Milky Way galaxy, stellar populations in the galaxy, formation of galaxy
CH26-Galaxies
Types of galaxies and their properties, the expanding universe
CH27-Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Blackholes
Characteristics of quasars, super massive black holes
CH28-The Evolutions and Distribution of Galaxies
Distant galaxies, galactic collisions, distribution of galaxies, dark matter, formation and evolution of galaxies
Week 8:
CH29-The Big Bang
Age and expansion of universe, the beginning of the universe, cosmic microwave background, composition of universe
CH30-Life in the Universe
Conditions for life on Earth, chemical building blocks of life, habitable environments, SETI
Final Exam Chapters 1-30.
| Week | Unit | Textbook Reading | |
| 1 | Intro to class CH1-Science and the Universe CH2-Observing the Sky | 1.1-1.9 | 2.1-2.4 |
| 1 | CH3-Orbits and Gravity CH4-Earth, Moon and Sky | 3.1-3.6 | 4.1-4.7 |
| 2 | CH5-Radiation and Spectra CH6-Astronomical Units | 5.1-5.6 | 6.1-6.6 |
| 2 | CH7-Intro to the Solar System CH8-Earth as a Planet | 7.1-7.4 | 8.1-8.5 |
| 3 | CH9-Cratered Worlds CH10-Earthlike Planets | 9.1-9.5 | 10.1-10.6 |
| 3 | CH 11-The Giant Planets CH 12-Rings, Moons and Pluto | 11.1-11.3 | 12.1-12.5 |
| 4 | CH13-Comets and Asteroids CH14-Origin of the Solar System | 13.1-13.4 | 14.1-14.5 |
| 4 | CH15-The Sun: A Garden Variety Star CH16-The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse | 15.1-15.4 | 16.1-16.4 |
| 5 | CH 17-Analyzing Starlight CH18-The Stars: A Celestial Census | 17.1-17.4 | 18.1-18.4 |
| 5 | CH19-Celestial Distances CH 20-Between the Stars: Gas and Dust | 19.1-19.4 | 20.1-20.6 |
| 6 | CH21-The Birth of Stars CH22-Stars from Adolescence to Old Age | 21.1-21.6 | 22.1-22.5 |
| 6 | CH 23-The Death of Stars CH24-Black Holes And Curved Spacetime | 23.1-23.6 | 24.1-24.7 |
| 7 | CH25-The Milky Way Galaxy CH26-Galaxies | 25.1-25.6 | 26.1-26.5 |
| 7 | CH27-Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Blackholes CH28-The Evolutions and Distribution of Galaxies | 27.1-27.3 | 28.1-28.5 |
| 8 | CH29-The Big Bang CH30-Life in the Universe | 29.1-29.7 | 30.1-30.4 |
| 8 | Final Exam | ||
College Policies, Resources and Supports
For information related to the Student Code of Conduct Policy, Withdrawal Policy, Email Policy, and Non- Attendance/Non-Participation Policy, please review the college’s Code of Campus Affairs and Regulations webpage, which can be found at catalog.kcc.edu under the Academic Regulations & Conduct Guide.
KCC offers various academic and personal resources for all students. Many services are offered virtually, as well as in person. Please visit Student Resources - Kankakee Community College to access student resources services such as:
- Clubs and organizations
- Counseling and referral services
- Office of disability services
- Student complaint policy
- Transfer services
- Tutoring services, etc.
The materials on this course are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course. Further information regarding KCC's copyright policy is available at https://kcc.libguides.com/copyright.
|Course syllabus/calendar is subject to change.