Image: Stars being born in the Large Magellanic Cloud,
about 160,000 light-years from Earth
(To learn more, click here)

For a printable version of this page, click here

Welcome to Astronomy 1!

You will always find announcements posted on this page. (These announcements will also be made in lecture.) Check here at least once a week for the latest updates!

You'll also find a different fun astronomical fact on this page every time you visit it.


Today's fun astronomical fact:



Astronomy 1 announcements
(updated Wednesday, March 15, 2006):

Extra credit opportunities: You can receive extra credit for attending a "star party" or for attending a planetarium show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. For more information, click here.

Final Exam on Monday, March 20, 2006: The first midterm exam will be given in Broida 1610 during the regular lecture period on Monday, March 20, 2006, 4:00-7:00 p.m.

  • The exam will cover all assigned material from the course with equal weight --- there will be as many questions from the first part of the course as from the second part. (See the Syllabus page for a list of all assigned material.)
  • There will be 80 multiple-choice questions. About half of these will involve calculation, and about half will not.
  • The exam booklet will include a sheet with all of the necessary formulas as well as all of the conversion factors (such as 1 AU = 1.50 x 108 km) and all of the constants (such as c = 3.00 x 105 km/s). To see a copy of the formula sheet in PDF format, click here.
  • You are to bring the following to the exam:
    • A #2 pencil and eraser;
    • A calculator with fresh batteries;
    • A ParSCORE Scantron sheet, 8 1/2" x 11" size, red, form number F-1712 (available at the Arbor, the UCSB Bookstore, and other fine retail outlets). You must have the ParSCORE Scantron --- others will not work. Click here for a picture of the Scantron you need. To save time, fill in and bubble in your name and perm number before coming to the exam.
    Extra scratch paper is not allowed.
  • Make sure you've filled in all the bubbles on your ParSCORE Scantron when time is called. MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT YOU (a) BUBBLE IN YOUR PERM NUMBER AND (b) BUBBLE IN WHICH VERSION OF THE EXAM YOU ARE TAKING. Failure to do this can result in your receiving ZERO points for the exam. (The version of your exam version will be listed on cover of the exam book.) TIME-SAVING TIP: Before coming to the exam, you can fill in your name and perm number, and bubble in your perm number, on your ParSCORE Scantron form.
  • Make sure your ParSCORE Scantron form is in good shape --- otherwise it won't go through the machine. And if it doesn't go through the machine, it doesn't go through the machine.
  • You may find it most efficient to wait until the last few minutes of the exam to bubble in the answers on your ParSCORE Scantron form.
  • At the end of the exam you will hand in the Scantron sheet only. You will keep the exam book as a record of your answers.
  • We will keep the Scantron sheets. Your exam score will be available to you through WebAssign.

Additional Suggested Questions: For an additional 13 questions based on the final chapters covered in this course, click here. These are not to be handed in, but we recommend that you work out the answers for yourself in preparation for the final exam. Solutions are available on ERes now.

On-line assignment #23 due Thursday, March 16, 2006, at 10:00 p.m.: This on-line assignment covers the assigned reading for Friday, March 17, 2006. It is worth 0.174% of the total points for the course. For information about how to do on-line assignments, click here.

Updates - room for M 3:00-3:50 p.m. discussion, TA office hours: Please note the following:

  • Upon checking with the Registrar, we've found that the correct room for the Monday 3:00-3:50 p.m. discussion section is Girvetz 2128. Click here for an updated list of discussion section locations.
  • The office hours for the TAs have been posted here. The TAs will hold their office hours in the Physics Study Room, Room 1019, Broida Hall, starting the week of January 16th.

Make sure you have the required items for Astronomy 1: There are three items you'll need to purchase for this class: (1) an online textbook ("eBook"), (2) a Personal Response System (PRS) transmitter, and (3) access to the WebAssign system for taking online quizzes. Click here for details on these.

Helpful hints for freshmen: If you're a freshman (or even if you're not), you'll find some helpful hints for success at UCSB here.

What's in the sky this week:

For a guide to the stars and planets visible in the evening sky this week, click here.

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Last updated 2006 March 15

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