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 |
|
Mon 06
Oct |
4-5 |
|
Mon 20
Oct |
4-5 |
|
Mon 03
Nov |
4-5 |
|
Mon 24
Nov |
5-7 |
|
Bios: such as Einstien, Newton, Hubble, Chandrasekhar
and much more but beware, a rewording of a
bio is not enough |
|
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. We will read in
parallel the two books for this class. Prisons of Light
book the reading will be 13 pages/per discussion session, starting
at page 6; I can discuss the last few pages. For the Dragon's Egg
start with page 1 and read 21 pages/discussion,
except the last one where 6 more pages need to be read. Therefore the
required reading is only about 64 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 Dragon’s Egg 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 has a 14, you will only get 1
pt. Abstract will get grades of 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 24) class meeting #1
Discussion of expectations on writing and introducing each other,
and a lecture
on Black Holes etc
Begin Readings
Plus,
Discuss Reading (one student/session discussion leader
except the 1st one here 2 are paired) 1
Week 2 (Sep 29 Oct 1 ) class meetings # 2, 3
Discuss Readings
Week 3 (Oct 6,
8) 4, 5
Discuss Readings
Week 4 (Oct 13, 15)
6, 7
Discuss Readings
Week 5 (Oct 20, 22)
8, 9
Discuss Readings
Week 6 (Oct 27,
29) 10, 11
Discuss Readings
Week 7 (Nov 3, 5)
12, 13
Discuss Readings
Week 8 (Nov 10,12)
14, 15
Discuss Readings
Week 9 (Nov 17, 19) Discussion 16, Presentations Group 1
Week 10 (Nov 24) Presentations, Group 2
Presentations are 8 min pptx based on
last paper or
on another topic as you wish