Message Archive - Ph 127, Winter 2008
(1) Welcome to Physics 127!
(1/04/2008)
(2) Venus is currently a brilliant "morning star" and has
been for the past few
months. Enjoy it now as it will get gradually more difficult to
observe as the
semester progresses. Look for it in the southeast
just as dawn is breaking. (If you live very close to the
mountains, you may need to observe it from a
location farther from the eastern skyline.)
(1/05/2008)
(3) Earn two bonus points by assigning yourself a CID# (see Course
Outline, Part III) today (Monday, January 7).
(1/07/2008)
(4)
Earn bonus points by helping your instructor debug course
materials. If you discover errors in the materials posted on or accessed
through this
webpage, except materials for which I am
not personally responsible, notify me via email (cgchristensen@byu.edu).
If you are the first to notify me of
an error, you earn one bonus
point. Such points will be treated as extra credit, the same as quiz points, and posted in the first
column of the second
sheet of the Class Standings spreadsheet.
When you notify me of an error be sure to include your name and CID#.
(1/07/2008)
(5)
Your only announced quiz of the term will occur on Wednesday, January 9.
It will cover materials accessed through this course webpage,
especially
the Course Outline. Check out all the links on this page.
(Some are still being updated and some of those still show
information posted during earlier
terms.)
(1/07/2008)
(6) Three persons submitted quizzes this past
Wednesday with unclaimed CID#s. Those CID#s were 1216, 5678 and 7555.
If you are one of these three
students please identify yourself and claim your
quiz points. (Also, if you desire, you may keep your CID# as no one else
has claimed it.) (1/10/2008)
(7) Because we did not finish covering the
rather difficult material that I had hoped to cover on Friday (January 11), the
deadline for Homework
assignment #A is extended until Wednesday,
January 16. (1/11/2008)
(8) The Sky Familiarity section of the
course outline is now completely updated for 2008.
(1/12/2008)
(9)
Several of you have informed me of needed corrections to the website and related
links. I am keeping track of these and gradually putting them into
effect. You will be given extra
credit points at that time. I am not ignoring these corrections. I'm just
slow in applying them! (1/22/2008)
(10) I have received
homework with CID# 360. This numbers was not correctly
submitted to me via the on-line CID# assignment procedure. I therefore
have no idea to whom this
number applies. Please let me know who you are and receive your appropriate
credit. (1/22/2008)
(11) The TA/Lab schedule has been substantially
revised. I understand that some of you attempted to attend sessions last
week which did not occur. I
apologize for that. I believe that
the current schedule is stable. (1/22/2008)
(12) Several of you have received zero (or
"###") homework scores because you answered the wrong questions. I will
accept all homework assignments
#1, A, 2 and 3 submitted this week (January
22-25) without any penalties whether you are resubmitting an assignment because you answered the
wrong
questions or you are submitting homework late for whatever
reason. (Please do not resubmit homework for which you have already
received a
non-zero score unless you did the wrong assignment and accidentally
picked up a few points because of question-number coincidences.) After
this
week penalties will be assessed for late homework.
(1/22/2008)
(13) If you are interested in a summer student
job working in planetary science or astrobiology
click here for an email sent to me
by Jani Radebaugh of the
BYU Geology Department. It contains
links to a number of fascinating opportunities. However time is
short for a number of these applications. Your
immediate response
may be required. (1/24/2008)
(14) If you would like to learn to operate the
planetarium projector and even give your own shows, then come to the meetings of
the Astronomy Club on
Fridays at 6 pm in the Astronomy Library
(N485 ESC). These one-hour meetings usually end before 7 pm so that club
members can present the public
planetarium shows.
(1/24/2008)
(15) Click here to read an open
letter from Nick Herrick (president) to members of the BYU Astroclub. If
you are interested respond to him or attend a
meeting!
(1/29/2008)
(16) As I was making corrections to my posted course materials in
response to your email messages today, I accidentally deleted the last four
emails which
had been sent. So, if you sent me a message
notifying me of an error and I did not send you an answer you are likely the
sender of one of those four
deleted messages. I offer my apologies and,
if the correction has still not been made, I invite you to inform me again and I
will make the correction
and give you a bonus point.
(1/30/2008)
(17) The deadline for submission of Homework Assignment #5 is extended
until Wednesday, February 6. (2/2/2008)
(18) The deadline for submission of Homework Assignment #6 is extended
until Monday, February 11. Unit Examination #1 will be available
in the Testing
Center on both Monday and Tuesday, February
11 and 12. You may also take it on Wednesday, February 13 with payment of
a late fee. (2/6/2008)
(19) Much homework is accumulating in the homework
distribution center boxes. Please pick up your homework and check
the accuracy of
our record of
your scores.
(2/6/2008)
(20)
Many of you are have already passed off your 50 required constellations and
bright stars. (If you did not earn a perfect 50 points, you may try more
than once.) You will note on the Class
Standing spreadsheet that I have not yet entered a perfect score for this assignment. That causes the grade
calculating function to assume that 0 points is
the perfect score and treat your earned score as bonus points. Hence your
estimated grade is probably
an "A" which could be unrealistically high.
Your class ranking may also be unrealistically high. As soon as
approximately half the class has
completed this requirement I will change the
perfect score to 50 points. This will correct the estimated grades of
those who have completed the work,
but will cause grade estimates to be
unrealistically low for those who have not yet completed the assignment.
(2/6/2008)
(21) Remember to use Unit Review Sheet #1 in preparing
for Unit Examination #1.
(2/8/2008)
(22) Dr. Victor Migenes, an eminent radio astronomer
from Guanajuato University in Mexico, will be a guest lecturer in our class on
Wednesday, February
13. He will also present a colloquium to
the Physics Department at 4:00 pm in N215 ESC, entitled "MASERs: A Very
Special Window to the Universe"
that same day. Even though the colloquium
may be fairly technical, I expect that there will be some content that will be
meaningful to non-physicists
and non-astronomers. If you are interested
in attending, please feel free to do so. If you attend and submit to me
(via the homework box, before
class time on Friday) a sheet of paper containing
your CID#, a statement that you attended the lecture and a single fact you
learned by attending, you
will receive 10 bonus homework points.
(2/11/2008)
(23)There was one error on the Exam #1 key. Therefore 19 of you
scored 2 points higher than you thought you had, but 9 of you scored 2 points lower
than
you thought.
(2/14/2008)
(24)
Why ice fishing in Alaska sucks.
(2/19/2008)
(25)
Last Four Hours of 4-km Resolution
Satellite Images.
(2/20/2008)
(26) Two of you submitted quizzes
on Wednesday (Feb 20) under the CID# 1125. I do know which of the two was
correctly identified, but I do not know who
submitted the other one. Whoever it
was scored 4 points. If you will identify yourself, I will award you your
points. (The incorrectly identified quiz
was on a bottom half sheet of paper.)
(2/20/2008)
(27) Dr. Joseph Jensen, an observational astronomer
from Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, will present a colloquium to
the Physics Department at 4:00 pm
on Wednesday, February 27, in C215 ESC, entitled "Measuring
Universal Acceleration." Even though the presentation will be fairly technical, I expect
that there will be some content that will be
meaningful to non-physicists and non-astronomers. If you are interested
in attending, please feel free to do
so. If you attend and submit to me
(via the homework box, before class time on Friday) a sheet of paper containing
your CID#, a statement that you
attended the lecture and a single fact you
learned by attending, you will receive 10 bonus homework points.
(2/23/2008)
(28)
Elizabeth Jeffery, a recent BYU graduate and a soon-to-be doctoral
recipient at the University of Texas, will present a colloquium to
the Physics
Department at 4:00 pm
on Wednesday, March 5, in C215 ESC, entitled "White
Dwarfs and the Ages of Open Clusters."
As with the presentations of Drs.
Migenes and Jensen, this colloquium will be fairly technical,
but again I expect that there will be some content that will be
meaningful to non-
physicists and non-astronomers. If you are interested
in attending, you are invited to do so. Again, if you attend and submit to me
(via the homework
box, before class time on Friday) a sheet
of paper containing
your CID#, a statement that you were at the lecture and a single fact you
learned by
attending, you will receive 10 bonus homework points.
(2/29/2008)
(29)
Unit Test #2 may be taken anytime Thursday or Friday
with no fee, or Saturday with a late fee. If you take it Saturday,
remember that the weekend
Testing Center hours are 10 am to 4 pm. No
tests are given out after 3 pm. (3/4/2008)
(30) It's hard to remember that Pluto is not a
planet. Some of you may have noticed that the author (not "authors,"
William J Kaufmann III died in 1994) and
editors of our textbook missed the reference to
Pluto as a "planet" in question number 14-34. Expect that question to be
revised in the 9th edition of
Universe. (3/5/2008)
(31) All homework assignments through #14 have been
graded and placed in the return boxes.
(3/7/2008)
(32) "I do not see how astronomers can help feeling
exquisitely insignificant, for every new page of the Book of the Heavens they
open reveals to them
more and more that the world we are so proud of
is to the universe of careening globes as is one mosquito to the winged and
hoofed flocks and herds
that darken the air and populate the plains and
forests of all the earth. If you killed the mosquito would it be missed?
Verily, What is Man, that he
should be considered of God?" -- Mark Twain in a
letter to his future wife Olivia Langdon, 8 January 1870.
(3/7/2008)
(33) Another opportunity for extra credit occurs this
coming Wednesday (March 12). The department colloquium is being presented
by Tom Stephens of
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His title
is "GLAST: Where Particle Physics Meets Astronomy." The colloquium
is again in C215 ESC at 4 pm. The
requirements for ten extra-credit points remain
the same. If
you attend and submit to me a sheet of paper containing your CID#, a statement
that you
were at the lecture and a single fact you learned
by attending, you will receive 10 bonus homework points.
(3/10/2008)
(34) Until further notice we shall run one
class period behind the posted semester schedule. This applies to reading,
lecture topics and
homework. No decision has yet been made on
the date of Unit Exam #3. (3/12/2008)
(35) Mid-semester evaluation: I
would appreciate your immediate input regarding this course, especially those
things that you especially like or dislike.
Click
here for an evaluation form which you may either email to me at
cgchristensen@byu.edu
or fill out by
hand and bring to class next Monday. If
you respond before 5 pm next Monday, I will give
you ten points of extra credit. (3/13/2008)
(36) Easter occurs on the unusually early date of March 23 this year.
It has not occurred this early in the year since 1913.
Click here for more information.
(3/14/2008)
(37) At 11:48 pm this evening the center of the sun will pass through
that point in the sky known as the vernal equinox. Astronomically
speaking, spring
begins at that instant. Meteorologically,
spring began at the beginning of March and runs through the end of May since
March, April and May are the
three transitional months between December,
January and February, the three coldest (winter) months of the year, and June,
July and August, the
three hottest (summer) months of the year.
(March 19, 2008)
(38) I cdnuolt
blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal
pweor of the hmuan mnid! Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and
lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but
the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
(3/19/2008)
(39) Cellphone
Karma.
(3/19/2008)
(40) Due to popular demand-another
opportunity for extra credit presents itself-you
may earn EC by attending next Tuesday's (March 25) forum, then
reporting that you have attended and one fact
that you learned by attending, exactly as you have done for physics colloquium
speakers. Reports
should be placed in the homework submission slot
before Wednesday morning's (March 26) class.
The speaker is Professor Brian Greene, a physicist
from Colombia University.
(3/19/2008)
(41)
Exam #3 will be given on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 1 and 2. Homework assignment #20 is due on Friday,
March 28. Homework assignments #21
and #22 are due on Monday, March 31.
(3/26/2008)
(42) Thank you to the many
of you who completed mid-semester evaluations. I believe the information
you imparted will be of great help to me. I have
posted 10 additional points of extra credit on
each of your records.
(3/27/2008)
(43) Expect questions on
constellation and/or star identification on your remaining exams (#3, #4 and
final). (3/27/2008)
(44) Remember that this is the last week to pass off your stars and
constellations! Friday, April 4, is the last possible day. After
this week, except for
astronomy class times, the planetarium will be
used by Physical Science 100 classes.
(3/31/2008)
(45)
You can earn
ten bonus homework points by submitting an on-line teaching evaluation. I would
particularly value your comments. If you choose to
submit an evaluation, your ten points will
appear in the extra credit (Xtra C) column (B) on sheet 2 of the score
spreadsheet. (Do not conceal your
identity when you submit the evaluation, or
I will not be able to identify you and give you your extra points. If you
reveal you identity, I will know only
that you have submitted an evaluation.
I will not know which of the evaluations is yours.)
The deadline for submitting ratings is April 17. Thank you in
advance
for participating. (4/2/2008)
(46) Homework Assignment #23 is due Monday, April 7; #24 is due
Wednesday, April 9; #25 is due Friday, April 11. Assignments #26 and #28
are due
Monday, April 14. (Remember that Assignment
#28 is an extra-credit assignment.) Assignment #27 is cancelled, however
it may also be submitted on
Monday, April 14 for extra credit.
(4/4/2008)
(47) Your scores for Unit Test #3 have been posted. There was
one error on the key. As a consequence twelve of you received two more
points and two of
you received two fewer points, than you thought
you had. Also I was persuaded by one of you that "c" as well as "a" was a
suitable answer for
question #54. Because of this change, three
of you received one additional point. You will be able to pick up your
individual test copies on Monday
afternoon. The test score histogram and
statistical summary will be posted on Monday.
(4/4/2008)
(48) To provide a little extra time, since some of the material in
homework assignments #26, #27 and #28 will be discussed in class on Monday,
April 14, the
homework deadline time for these assignments will
be 12:00 pm instead of 9:00 am.
(4/11/2008)
(49) As of this time (4/11/08,
4:40 pm) only 18 of your observing projects have been graded and
posted on the grade spreadsheet. Since the OP column of
the spreadsheet influences the calculation of
projected grades, those of you whose OPs have not yet been graded are being
projected to receive
unrealistically low grades.
(4/11/08)
(50) Please note the optional semester review which will be held in
the normal class time and place on Wednesday, April 16 (Exam Preparation Day).
If
there is sufficient demand, it will run until 11
am. Your instructor will prepare nothing formally, but will be happy to
answer your questions.
(4/14/ 2008)
(51) With the exception of Homework Assignments #18, 19, 21 and 22
(and the final), all of your semester work has now been graded and placed in the
homework return pigeonholes.
(4/16/ 2008)
(52) All of your semester work except the final and extra credit for
your on-line course evaluation has now been graded, posted and placed in the
homework return pigeonholes. If there are
any inaccuracies in our record of your scores please contact us immediately.
You will note that your four
lowest homework scores (those which are not
counted) have been identified with asterisks. Because of the slight change
in the final homework
assignments, regarding what was required and what
was optional for extra credit, I have posted the new, slightly revised, grade
calculation formulae
in the "Grades" section of the Course Outline in
case you want to check out our calculations of your scores in detail.
Because some of the homework
return pigeonholes are stuffed beyond capacity,
please pick up your work as soon as possible. Any unclaimed work will be
discarded immediately
after the final exam period, to make room for
Spring Term classes.
(4/17/ 2008)
(53) All scores are now posted and grades have been assigned. If there are
any errors in your scores, please contact your instructor immediately.
This has
been a delightful class! It has been a
pleasure working with you. Have a great summer.
(4/22/2008)