PHYS 2500 - Foundations of Astronomy

This Foundations course provides an introduction to the breadth of Astronomy through the use of astronomical examples to reinforce physical concepts such as distance scales, magnitudes, mass, velocity, temperature, pressure and angular momentum. Topics include the celestial sphere, coordinate systems, Kepler's Laws, orbits, eclipses, tides, emission and absorption spectra, astronomical detection of light, telescopes, the Sun, properties of stars, our Galaxy, and galaxies.