Office: Dearborn
Observatory #3 (General Campus Interactive Map)
Info of Dearborn Observatory area only
Dearborn Observatory
Phone: 847.491.5633
Email: m-ulmer2@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: by appointment
Gateway (by Fredrik Pohl, ISBN: 0-345-47583-6)
Dragon's Egg (by Robert L. Forward, ISBN: 0-345-43529-X)
See also the Web such as:
Papers Due Date Schedule :
Date Due |
Number of pages |
Wed 5 Oct |
4-5 |
Wed 19 Oct |
4-5 |
Wed 2 Nov |
4-5 |
Mon 21 Nov |
5-7 |
Bios: such as Einstien, Newton, Hubble,
Chandrasekhar and much more |
Milli-second Pulsars |
Pulsars as good clocks |
Quantum Gravity |
Theory of Every Thing |
Time Travel |
Time Dilation |
Bi-Polar Out Flow compared to black hole produced jets |
Do Black Holes Exist? |
Twin Pardox |
Magnetars |
Anomolous X-ray Pulsars |
The Black Hole Pardigm for Active Galactic
Nuclei |
Neutron star Formation |
Black Hole Formation |
NASA's support of Black Hole reseach |
NSF's support of Black Hole reseach |
The Space Race, The Shuttle, The Space Station, The Moon |
LIGO/LISA (experiments to find gravitational radiation) |
Have Hulst & Taylor already proved grav. rad. exists, so why
bother? |
Is Time Quantized ? |
There are two books to read for this class. These are both Sci-Fi books, but both authors
sprinkled in some real astronomy. We
will read in parallel the two books for this class. For Gateway, the reading will be
about 18 pages/per discussion session. For the Dragon's Egg
start with page 1 and read about 21 pages/discussion, except the last one where 6 more pages need
to be read. Therefore the required reading is only about 68 pages
week. At 1 minute per page, you won't be "hurting." You
should spend most of your time that you devote to this class to writing papers.
This is not a lecture class devoted to teaching you many detailed facts about
compact objects (black holes and neutron stars) nor is the expectation that you
spend most of you writing assignment time on researching your topic.
Each class will have a student discussion leader. The discussion topics
can be science issues, history related (the black hole book), or how you found
the writing (e.g. exceptionally good or bad, and give examples and talk about
why). At the end of the quarter, the discussion time will be replaced by 10 minute presentations by each student.
Facilities will be provided for either overhead or power point presentations .
I was fortunate enough to begin my scientific career when black
holes, neutron stars, pulsars and all that were being discovered. I plan to use
this perspective to encourage the students to think critically and to learn
about the excitement of entering a new field. As my role as a Freshman Seminar
leader I will initiate discussion, questions, and to teach the student how to
examine his/her own writing in a critical manner. My interest in X-ray
astronomy has lead me to study both compact objects, the large scale structure
of the Universe, and as well instrumentation development for the next
generation satellites.
Four writing assignments will be required;
three of moderate length (45% of the grade) and one in-depth essay (25% of the
grade). Abstracts can add at most 2
points to a paper such that is your paper already ahs s 14, you will only get 1
pt. Abstract will get grades o 2, 1, or
0 depending on their quality. Ones that are too long will be returned without a
grade.
Each student will be required to facilitate a discussion of a
topic from one of the two books we will read in the class. Each student will
also give a 10 minute presentation (15% of the grade)
of a paper of their choice (but I recommend the last paper) that is within the
context of the class.
Recommended but not Required at
all: Attendance for at least one observing session.
Dearborn Observatory has an 18 inch refractor that allows
spectacular viewing of the planets, the moon and
other objects. Observing sessions will be held on an evening to be announced
later. Each will be one hour long and will be somewhat limited so please
sign up (if possible, but this is not
necessary) with me such that we don't overload one session..
The first session will be held the second week of class. The times of the
sessions will be announced at the end of the preceding week and the beginning
of the week of the sessions. Viewing will be done in conjunction with the class
called the Highlights of Astronomy or My Class the Milky Way. The times of the
viewing are 8:00-9:30 on Mondays The sessions will be held regardless of
whether it is cloudy or not. A tour will be given in any event. Repeat
attendance to achieve actual viewing is possible.
Week 1 (Sept 22)
Discussion of expectations on writing and introducing each other,
and a lecture
on Black Holes etc
Begin
Readings
Week 2 (Sept 26-Sept 28 )
Discuss Reading (one student/session discussion leader)
Week 3 (Oct 3-Oct 4)
Discuss Readings
Week 4 (Oct 10-12)
Discuss Readings
Week 5 (Oct 17-Oct 19)
Discuss Readings Plus
Week 6 (Oct 24-26)
Discuss Readings
Week 7 (Oct 31-Nov 2)
Discuss Readings
Week 8 (Nov 7-9)
Discuss Readings begin Presentations on 16th
Week 9 (Nov 14-16)
( Nov 21) More presentations
Presentations are 8 min ppt based on
last paper or
on another topic as you wish