Jon
Willis: Teaching
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| In my dreams! |
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Current courses: |
| ASTR201:
The search for life in the universe A general science course designed to be accessible to students not majoring in science. An overview of modern scientific thought on the possibility of life beyond Earth and the current research being done to find it; the likeliest locations of life in our Solar System; the hunt for planets around other stars; the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Laboratories on alternate weeks; practical work includes observations with campus telescopes. |
| ASTR405:
Introduction to cosmology Observations and theory of the expanding universe; the cosmic microwave background and observations of light nuclear elements; the growth of structure leading to the creation of stars and galaxies; studies of dark matter and dark energy; the impact of galaxy evolution on observational cosmology. |
| ASTR505:
Galaxies The formation and evolution of galaxies from a modern research perspective. Topics may include the observed properties of galaxies,the growth of galaxies from initial conditions, the development of galactic scaling relations, the relationship between galaxies and large-scale structure and the physical evolution of galaxies. |
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Courses I have taught in the past: |
| ASTR250:
Introduction to Astrophysics Topics include: astronomical coordinate systems, telescopes, stellar distances and magnitudes, binary stars, spectral classification, stellar evolution, variable stars, stellar motions, star clusters, interstellar medium, structure and rotation of the galaxy, external galaxies, cosmology. |
| PHYS215:
Introduction to quantum physics Introductory topics in quantum physics: the discovery of the electron; blackbody radiation; the photo-electric effect; the Compton effect; pair-production; Rutherford scattering and atomic structure; the Bohr atom; X-ray and electron diffraction; wave-particle duality; the Schroedinger equation and applications. |
| ASTR580:
Topics in galaxy research A series of contributed lectures covering current areas of astronomy research on galaxies. |
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