A student who masters this course will understand how to think
scientifically.
A student who masters Astronomy will be able to think critically about data
(observations), and synthesize disparate facts to reach a conclusion in almost
any area where the data can be quantified.
Specifically, a student mastering this course will understand:
- the origins of astronomy as a science, and will be able to replicate
the logical deductions that led the Greeks to a basically correct interpretation
of the Solar System
- Kepler's Laws, Newton's Laws, and their applications within the Solar System
- electromagnetic radiation, and how we use it to understand the Solar System
- the nature of the major and minor bodies in the Solar System
- how the Solar System formed
- the Sun and its influence on the Earth
- the Earth as a planet,
- the possibilities for life on Mars, or elsewhere in the Solar System
- how we discover and characterize exoplanets