The course will provide a basic introduction to astronomy, from an observational viewpoint, starting with the Earth and its local environment within the Solar System, moving to the Galaxy, and the Universe at large. The fundamental pieces of evidence underlining our current understanding of astronomy will be discussed. An introduction to the connection between archaeology and astronomy will be presented also. The course will consist of contact hours, self-study, and time using telescopes to observe the night sky. 

 

An Introduction to Astronomy: Professor Paul Callanan 

• Astronomical History – the Geocentric and Heliocentric models of the Solar System:  Brahe, Kepler, Newton.
• The Night Sky – the constellations, the pole star, the diurnal motion of the stars, the orbit of the Earth about the Sun, the seasons. Finding stars on the sky.
• Time and calendars.
• Astronomy and navigation. The Greenwich meridian.
• Light – the electromagnetic spectrum. Reflecting and Refracting telescopes.
• Telescope operation
• Different types of Astronomy. Astronomy from Space.
• The distance to stars – parallax.
• Angles, angular separation*.
• Small numbers, large numbers, powers-of-ten notation.*
• Looking back in time with astronomy
• The Solar System - planets, moons, comets, asteroids.
• The Sun, eclipses.
• Planets around other stars, the Habitable Zone.
• Stars: distance, brightness, the magnitude system.
• The colour and temperature of stars.
• Stellar evolution – white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes.
• The formation of the elements.
• Galaxies and cosmology. Cepheids, the Doppler Shift and the expansion of the universe.
• Black holes in other galaxies.
• Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the fate of the Universe.