Astronomy 101: Introduction to Astronomy
The sky connects people across cultures, time, and space, and inspires us to wonder what's up there, where it all came from, and what will happen in the future. In Astro 101 you'll learn modern answers to these ancient questions, work with astronomical data, and even direct a robotic telescope!
This course has been taught online since 2012, always in an asynchronous mode (i.e. few live meetings). If you prefer scheduled lectures, please consider the excellent A sections of Astro 101 or 150. All of these courses are open to everyone, and there are no prerequisites. We do not assume or require an unusual scientific or mathematical background, but we do expect you to remember how to use scientific notation and algebra, as well as office software (e.g. Word, Powerpoint, or Google Docs). If you do not have access to these tools, please make a point of speaking with your instructor as soon as possible.
Required Materials
A desktop, laptop, or chromebook. Some elements of the course may not work well on a mobile device.
- Astronomy: At Play in the Cosmos 2nd edition, Adam Frank. W.W. Norton
We've organized this course around this textbook because it presents astronomy as a story about people--because it is! You can buy the textbook from various sources, but the print version is expensive because it includes access to resources we don't need. Instead, I recommend the ebook, available from W.W.Norton for (as of early 2024) $39.95. The first three chapters are free, so you can try it out. The first edition of the text will also work--most things are in the same order--but there are a few big typos which I've listed here: At Play in the Cosmos first edition Errata.
Things to Know
- Weekly Lessons: This course unfolds over nine lessons, which you can view by navigating to Modules in Canvas.
- Assignments: Lessons include ungraded activities, including mini-lectures with practice problems and lesson self-checks, but the graded assignments are just the discussions, labs, and quizzes.
- Late Work: We expect your work to be submitted in a timely fashion, but we know sometimes things happen, which is why we drop your lowest quiz and your lowest discussion automatically. We do not drop additional quizzes or discussions. For labs, you can receive an automatic two-day extension by requesting one in a submission comment--no explanation or planning necessary. Note that Canvas will automatically assign a zero to assignments turned in even one second late; but labs turned in within this window, with a comment, will still be graded. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that we will grade late work.
- Make-Up Assignments, Redos, and Extra Credit: We do not offer make-ups, redos, or extra credit.
- Announcements and Contacting Us: We will use Canvas Announcements to send out important information; you are expected to check these on a regular basis throughout the week. If you need to contact us, follow these directions so we can respond to you in a timely manner:
- For questions about the course, or course content, post a message on the General Discussion Forum, or come to office hours. Times are listed on the Office Hours and Contact Info page.
- For questions about grading, first check the rubric, then come to office hours. We don't check submission comments left after grading.
- Academic honesty: Collaboration is not allowed on quizzes or exams. While you are allowed and encouraged to work with members of the class on other assignments, in all cases your work should be in your own words. If you used other people's work, you must cite it. If you used generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, you must include the response from the tool alongside your own work, which we expect will express ideas beyond those generated by the tool. If we suspect academic misconduct, I will withhold your grade and report the suspected activity to Community Standards & Student Conduct.
- The University of Washington Department of Astronomy does not tolerate harassment of any kind: Harassment is any behavior by an individual or group that contributes to a hostile, intimidating, unwelcoming, and/or inaccessible work environment. Anyone can experience harassment. If you believe that you are being harassed, please reach out to your instructor and/or SafeCampus.
- We Follow UW Policies: We follow the UW's guidelines for faculty, including not requiring notes from doctors. For a full list, see UW Syllabus Guidelines and Resources.
Accommodations & Support
Support is available to discuss safety and well-being 24 hours / 7 days a week through SafeCampus. Accommodations for temporary health conditions and permanent disabilities are organized through UW DRS.
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.
Assignments and Grading
Quizzes -- 70% of your grade
There are five quizzes, and Canvas is set to automatically drop everyone's lowest score, so only four will end up counting toward your grade. Missing a quiz results in a zero, which will be automatically dropped, but only the first time. This is the only exam accommodation we offer. See About the Quizzes for more information.
Labs -- 20% of your grade
In the labs you will work with real data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The last lab will give you a chance to choose your own astronomical experience, including directing a telescope to take observations for you!
Discussions -- 10% of your grade
We understand that occasionally you will not be able to participate fully in each discussion, so we set Canvas to drop your lowest discussion score automatically. If you used generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, you must include the response from the tool alongside your own work, which we expect will express ideas beyond those generated by the tool.
Final Grade
Your final grade is determined by transforming your overall percentage to the 4.0 scale. A percentage score of at least 60% is required for credit. A score of 72% guarantees a 2.0 or higher, an 82% guarantees a 3.0 or higher, and a 95% guarantees a 4.0. If you have chosen Satisfactory/Not-Satisfactory grading you will need a 2.0 or better to receive credit.