M.A. Seeds, Horizons: Exploring the Universe, 13th edition (or earlier) (Thomson)

or

J.D. Fix, Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic Frontier, 6th edition (or earlier) (McGraw Hill)

or

N. Commins & W.J. Kaufmann, Discovering the Universe, 8th edition (or earlier) (Freeman)

or

any other "freshman" level Astronomy text. Multiple copies of the textbooks and similar books are available in the Barr Smith Library, some in the Reserve Collection (3 hour loan).

Multiple copies of the textbooks and similar books are available in the Barr Smith Library, some in the Reserve Collection (3 hour loan).

MyUni: Teaching materials and course documentation will be posted on the MyUni website (http://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/).

This course will be delivered by the following means:

• 3 lectures of 1 hour per week
• 1 workshop of 1 hour per week
• 1 practical of 3 hours per fortnight (weather dependant)

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The course content will include the following:

Coursework Content

• 24 lectures as an introduction to General Astronomy
• 12 lectures studying the Solar System

Practical Work Content

• Best 5 of the following 6 practicals contribute to your final practical grade. Observation practicals (rescheduling may be required due to weather conditions):

  • Observing the Moon: One evening session will be spent observing the Moon from the University campus. This observing session will be accompanied by a set of guided observing tasks and questions for assessment.
  • Observing the Night Sky: a visit to an observing site north of the city
  • Sunspot Practical: image collected of the sun over a two week period which are subsequently analysed
  • Sundial: Constructing a simple Sundial (take-home practical)
  • Pulsar: simulation of a radio telescope
  • Spectroscopy
    • Part A - Observations: 30 minute session, one evening, using a telescope with CCD camera and spectroscope
    • Part B - Analysis: An extended workshops will be devoted to analysing the images taken

Essay
Should be of approximately 1,500 words in length. Marks will be given for science content. References and the source of web information must be included.

In-Semester Tests
There will be 3 in-semester tests, spread equally through the semester.

Practical achievement and practical reports
Five practical reports must be submitted.  Practical reports are typically due within 1 week of attending a given practical session.

Final exam
This summative assessment activity comprehensively addresses the learning objectives for Astronomy.

Submission of Assigned Work
Assignments will be submit via MyUni, in doing so students are agreeing to the following statement:

I declare that all material in this assessment is my own work, except where there is clear acknowledgement and reference to the work of others. I have read the University of Adelaide's Academic Honesty PolicyLinks to an external site. I give permission for any assessed assignments to be reproduced and submitted to other academic staff for the purposes of assessment and to be copied, submitted and retained in a form suitable for electronic checking of plagiarism.

Extensions for Assessment Tasks Extensions of deadlines for assessment tasks may be allowed for reasonable causes. Such situations would include compassionate and medical grounds of the severity that would justify the awarding of a supplementary examination. Evidence for the grounds must be provided when an extension is requested. Students are required to apply for an extension to the Course Coordinator before the assessment task is due. Extensions will not be provided on the grounds of poor prioritising of time. 

Late submission of assessments
If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.