Astro 120 Lecture notes - Fall 2019
The current lecture notes projected in class will be made avalable on
this page.
The notes are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format
Note that any original material in these notes is copyright S. Kawaler, and is intended for use by Astro 120 students. They are not
to be reproduced, posted on the WWW, or distributed for sale.
A playlist with much of the music played before class is available here
Lecture 1 (8/27)
Introduction to Astro 120
Music:
Drops of Jupiter , Train (lyrics )
--- and ---
Woodstock , Joni Mitchell (lyrics )
Lecture 2 (8/29)
The Cosmic Fishbowl - celestial coordinates and motions
Music:
Northwest Passage , Stan Rogers (lyrics )
--- and ---
Watch the Stars , Pentangle (lyrics )
Lecture 3 (9/3)
The apparent motion of the sun, the calendar, seasons
Music:
Daylight (lyrics ), Allison Kraus and
Union Station --- and ---
It Was a Very Good Year (lyrics ), The Kingston Trio
--- or ---
Cruel Summer
(lyrics ), Bananarama
Lecture 4 (9/5)
Seasons, the Moon's Phases and its Orbit
Music:
Summertime (lyrics ), Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald
--- and ---
Dancing in the Moonlight (lyrics ), King Harvest
--- or ---
My Moon My Man (lyrics ), Feist
--- or ---
Blue Moon of Kentucky , Bill Monroe
Lecture 5 (9/10)
The Moon's Orbit; Lunar and Solar Eclipses
Music:
Moonshadow (lyrics ), Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam)
--- and ---
Moondance (lyrics ), Van Morrison
-- or --
You're So
Vain (lyrics ), Carly Simon
Lecture 6 (9/12)
Ancient Astronomy and Planetary Motion
Music:
Maya Love
(lyrics ), George Harrison
--- and ---
Because
(lyrics ), The Beatles
Lecture 7 (9/17)
Planetary Motion(s) - from Copernicus to to Kepler
Music:
The Laws Must Change
(lyrics ), John Mayall
- and -
Galileo
(lyrics ), Indigo Girls
Lecture 8 (9/19)
Kepler to Newton
Music:
Simplify , Henhouse Prowlers
(lyrics )
--- and ---
Gravity , James Brown
(lyrics )
Lecture 9 (9/24) Newton and his Laws
Music:
Room to Move , John Mayall
(lyrics )
--- and ---
Don't Stop Me Now , Queen
(lyrics )
Lecture 10 (9/26)
Rocket Science!
Music:
Stairway to Bootleg Heaven , DJ Earworm --- and ---
Satellite , Dave Matthews
(lyrics )
EXAM 1: Oct. 1, 6:45-8:00PM
Lecture 11 (10/3)
Overview of the Solar System and Planetary Guts:
Music:
Solar System ,
(lyrics ), The Beach Boys
-- and --
I'll be a-round
(lyrics ), The Spinners
Lecture 12 (10/8)
Planetary Interiors, Planetary Surfaces I: Physical processes.
Music:
Crash Burn (lyrics ), Blues Traveler
-- and--
Dance on a Volcano (
lyrics ), Genesis
Dust in the Wind
(lyrics ),
Kansas
Lecture 13 (10/10)
Planetary Surfaces II: More physical processes, ages of surfaces
Music:
Fault Lines
(lyrics ), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
--- and ---
I Feel the Earth Move
(lyrics ), Carole King
--- and ---
Geology
(lyrics ), Brad Paisley
Lecture 14 (10/15)
Radioisotope dating, and the surface of the Moon and Mercury
Music:
Playing with Uranium
(lyrics ), Duran Duran ;
Radioactive
(lyrics ), Imagine Dragons; -- and --
Long Time Gone
(lyrics ), Crosby, Stills & Nash === and ===
On Mercury
(lyrics ), Red Hot Chili Peppers
Lecture 15 (10/17, AZ)
Venus and Mars
Music:
Venus and Mars
(lyrics ), Paul McCartney and Wings,
Venus
(lyrics ), Shocking Blue --- and ---
Marching to Mars
(lyrics ), Sammy Hagar
Lecture 16 (10/22, AZ)
Planetary Atmospheres, the Greenhouse effect
Music:
Under Pressure
(lyrics ),
Queen and David Bowie
--- and ---
Billy Breathes
(Lyrics ), Phish
--- and ---
Pressure Drop
(lyrics ), Toots and the Maytals
Lecture 17 (10/24, AZ)
On to Giant Planets I: Interiors and Atmospherese
Music:
Drops of Jupiter , Train ( lyrics )
--- and ---
Call it Stormy Monday ,
Eva Cassidy
(lyrics )
(audio of T-Bone Walker )
--- and ---
Jupter and Beyond , by
Gyorgy Ligeti , from
2001: A Space Odyssey
Lecture 18 (10-29)
Giant Planets II: Tides, Rings, ...
Music:
Tide is High (lyrics ), Blondie --
- and --
Moondance (lyrics ), Van Morrison
Lecture 19 (10/31)
Moons, Icy Satellites of the Outer Solar System, and beyond
Music:
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day
(lyrics ), Jethro Tull, --- and ---
Cold Rain
(lyrics ),
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Lecture 20 (11/5)
KBOs, Asteroids, and Meteorites - remnants of the formation of the solar system
Music:
Shooting Star
(lyrics ), Harry Chapin --- and ---
Stone
Crazy , Kevin BF Burt and the Instigators
--- and ---
Shooting Star , (lyrics ), Bob Dylan
Lecture 21 (11/7)
Collisions - past, present and future
Music:
The Rock ,
(lyrics ), Harry Chapin,
--- and ---
Packs a Wallop!
(lyrics ), That 1 Guy
EXAM 2 - November 12: 6:45-8:00
Lecture 22 (11/14, TY)
Comets and their origins
Music:
St. Judy's Comet , Paul Simon
(lyrics )
-- and --
The Comet Song , Bjork
(lyrics )
-- and ---
Fire and Ice , Pat Benetar
(lyrics )
Lecture 23 (11/19)
Astrology and Pseudoscience
Music: Aquarius
(lyrics ), from the musical Hair
--- and ---
Superstition
(lyrics ), Stevie Wonder
Lecture 24 (11/21)
Our Sun
Music:
Here Comes the Sun (Richie Havens version ),
(lyrics ), The Beatles;
Invisible Sun (lyrics ), The Police --- and ---
Why Does the Sun Shine
(lyrics ),
They Might Be Giants
Lecture 25 (12/3)
The origin of our Solar System
Music:
Stardust
( lyrics ), Hoagy Carmichael,
Dust in the Wind (lyrics ), Kansas,
-- and ---
The Burning Babe
(lyrics ),
Sting
Lecture 26 (12/5)
Other planetary systems
Music:
Another World
(lyrics ): Joe Jackson
--- and ---
Big Space , Suzanne Vega
Lecture 27 (12/10)
The search for life in the Universe I: Life beyond Earth
Music:
Shallow End of the Gene Pool
(lyrics )
- Austin Lounge Lizards
--- and --
There Must Be a Better World Somewhere
(lyrics ), B.B. King;
Cool Clear Water
(lyrics ),
Marty Robbins;
--- and ---
Life's a Long Song
(lyrics ), Jethro Tull
Lecture 28 (12/12)
The search for life in the Universe II - Searches for intelligent life; conclusions
Music: Englishman in New York
(lyrics ), Sting;
After the Gold Rush
(lyrics ), Neil Young --- and ---
Woodstock
(lyrics ), by Joni Mitchell, performed by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
EXAM 3 December 18, 2019: 4:30-6:30PM
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