Basic Structure

Office Hours

• Tues 4-5, Weds 11:15-12:15 in 503 Altschul

Lectures

• M W 1:10-2:25, 202 Altschul
• Students are strongly urged to attend class on a regular basis; if you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the material from a classmate. Lecture notes will be posted on Courseworks.

Textbook

• 21st Century Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies, 2nd Edition, 2007 by J. Hester et al.

Distribution Requirements

• ASTR BC 1754 satisfies the Barnard Quantitative Reasoning requirement and can be used towards the Columbia College science requirement.
• ASTR BC 1754 along with the lab course C1904y can be applied towards the Barnard lab science requirement.

Labs

• Students who want laboratory credit should sign up for the one point course ASTR C1904y.
• This is an L course so enroll ASAP.
• Labs meet in the evenings and will begin on Feb 4.
• A separate grade is given for the lab course.

Teaching Assistants

• TAs and Help Room Hours will be announced.

Homework:

• Problem sets will be due in class approximately every other week.
• Late HW will NOT be accepted after the solutions are handed out.
• Students are encouraged to work with other student together on the homework, but the writeups submitted must be all your own work in your own words.
• HW is required; you cannot pass this course by exam grades alone.
• The lowest HW score will be dropped; the remaining scores will count for 20% of your final grade.

Quizzes:

• There will be 4 short open--note quizzes.
• The lowest score will be dropped; the remaining ones will count for 15% of your final grade.
• No make-up quizzes will be offered without prior approval.

Exams:

• We'll have one midterm in March, and a final exam during the scheduled time in May.
• The exams will be closed book.
• The midterm exam will count for 25%, and the final exam for 40%.