Astr/Phys 321: Class Schedule -- Spring 2008

Current Schedule - Spring Semester 2008

Date	Mode	Topic	Readings, etc	Homework Topic
10 Jan	Organize	Lecture	Introduction, choose topics, sample talk by Layden, dissect.	--
17 Jan	Discussion	Earth & Climate Change	Optional Background: Arny Units 21 & 23 Main: IPCC AR4 Synthesis Report (PDF, 24 pp) Main: Climate Change Models Optional Extension: other IPCC reports	--
24 Jan	Discussion	Mars Exploration	Optional Background: Arny Unit 40 (Mars) Main: see here	#1 Radiation
31 Jan	Discussion	Saturn Exploration	Optional Background: Arny Units 43 & 45 Main: see here	--
07 Feb	Discussion	Solar Activity	Optional Background: Arny Unit 51 Main: recent news from Ulysses & Hinode spacecraft Main: "Dynamo-Based Scheme...", Solar Phys. (1991) Main: Magnetic Field Model Predictions	#2 Size & Distance
14 Feb	Talks	Solar System	Dan Taylor: Comet LINEAR and Earth's Oceans Shannon Smith: Impacts on the Earth and Moon Matt Wuescher: Early Mars Randy Patton: Saturn's Moon Enceladus Lisa Walter: Volcanism on Satellites James Yarnell: Planetary Storms (sans J's GRS) Jesse Ward: Jupiter's Great Red Spot Neil Beery: Pluto's Atmosphere and "New Horizons"
21 Feb	Discussion	Interstellar Medium	Optional Background: Arny Unit 72 Main: Visit our BlackBoard site for PDF ("Gas" pp. 34-43 and "Dust" pp. 44-48)	#3 Jupiter's Mass
28 Feb	Discussion	Galactic Stellar Halo	Optional Background: Arny Unit 71 Main: Visit our BlackBoard site for PDF ("MW Formed" pp. 3-7) Main: Nature, 450, 1020 (2007)	#4 Linear Regression
06 Mar	None	None	Spring Break	--
13 Mar	Discussion	Exosolar Planets	Optional Background: Arny Unit 34 Main: browse http://exoplanets.org/, including observing technique characteristics of exosolar planets 5 planets around 55 Cnc super-earth (7.5 Mearth)?	--
20 Mar	Talks	Stars	Possible topics Neil Beery: Brown Dwarfs Jesse Ward: "Nemesis" and Mass Extinctions? Randy Patton: Other Methods of Finding Extra-Solar Planets James Yarnell: When Stars Collide Lisa Walter: Magnetars Shannon Smith: X-Ray Binaries Matt Wuescher: The Milky Way's Super-Massive Black Hole Dan Taylor: Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy	#5 Distance and Space Motions
27 Mar	Discussion	More talks	--	#6 Exoplanets
03 Apr	Discussion	Dark Matter	Optional Background: Arny Unit 78 Main: on BlackBoard	--
10 Apr	Special	4-5 pm Colloquium	Dr. Ata Sarajedini (Univ. of Florida) "The HST/ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters"	--
17 Apr	Discussion	The Hubble Law & the Accelerating Universe	Optional Background: Arny Units 74 & 82 Main: on BlackBoard The next step: SNAP? (read all Quick Links)	#7 Dark Matter
24 Apr	Discussion	WMAP & Cosmology	Optional Background: Arny Unit 80 Main: on BlackBoard Recent results from WMAP	#6' Hubble Law (optional)
01 May	Talks	Extra-Galactic & Cosmology	Possible topics Randy Patton: Gamma-Ray Bursts Matt Wuescher: The First Stars in the Universe James Yarnell: Detecting Massive Neutrinos Neil Beery: Dark Energy & CFHT Lisa Walter: The First Few Micro-Seconds Shannon Smith: Matter vs Anti-Matter Asymmetry Jesse Ward: Wormholes Dan Taylor:	--