Astronomy 161 - new course

[iceman]

For those that may have listened to the 2006 edition of Astronomy 161 by Prof Richard Pogge at the Ohio-State University, you may be interested in knowing that the Autumn 2007 version has just kicked off.

The old podcast subscriber link doesn't work now, but there's a new XML to put in your podcatching software to download the latest lectures. It's only just started - only 1 lecture has been given so far.

You can see the notes and follow the link to the podcast section, here:

Astronomy 161 - An Introduction to Solar System Astronomy (http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/)

It's a brilliant lecture series and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in how the night sky works, motions of the heavens, history of astronomy and how we learnt things, discussions of keplers 3 laws and newtonian physics, followed lastly by a tour through our solar system.

Well worth the time invested. I enjoyed the 2006 series immensely and was part way through my second helping when I discovered the podcast link was now broken, and discovered the 2007 lectures.

Enjoy.

[middy]

Thanks for the heads up :thumbsup:

I am just working my way through the 2006 edition (up to lecture 8) and it is great so far. After the thread on podcasts the other week elsewhere on the forum, a whole new world has opened up for me. :)

The lectures are the perfect length for my bus trip into work (and here I was using my MP3 player to listen to my boring CD collection or the ad filled morning radio shows :rolleyes:)

As Iceman said they are a brilliant set of lectures and highly recommended.

[Stevo69]

Thanks from me also. I love spoken word podcasts such as this.



Is the 2006 lectures the same? Or are they a completely different set?

[iceman]

It's the same syllabus. The 2007 edition will have a few more up-to-date facts about our solar system I guess, but the historical aspects will still be the same.

[Stevo69]

Thanks Mike :thumbsup:

[circumpolar]

You can also access the winter 2006 edition from Ohio State University of

ASTRONOMY 162

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Astronomy/Astronomy-162--Stars-Galaxies-and-the-Universe-Podcast/22804

Also presented by Prof. Richard Pogge.

This is ment to follow ASTRONOMY 161. :thumbsup:

Can't say how good this one is as I have just started to plough through the
44 podcasts!:eyepop:

While you're looking at the site, browse the podcast directory for the many other science shows.
Sooo much to learn. The easy way.

[iceman]

I've already gone through Astronomy 162 - it's brilliant as well. Really enjoyed it.

Learnt heaps about stellar evolution and cosmology.

[Stevo69]

I'm downloading them this week. Thanks all for the heads up. Along with Astronomy Cast (http://astronomycast.com/), they provide an excellent, easy to understand resource.

[h0ughy]

downloading everything now - man there is heaps. LOL i even bought a iRiver to keep them on

[Mr. Subatomic]

If Astronomy 160 is much the same as 161, is Astronomy 162 much the same as well?

[iceman]

I'm not sure what you mean.

There is no Astronomy 160. There's 2 versions of Astronomy 161 - the 2006 edition and the (new) 2007 edition (ongoing right now). They are the same syllabus.

Astronomy 162 comes after 161, and covers star formation and evolution, galaxies and cosmology.

[Stevo69]

I'm finding him really hard to listen to. He talks too fast and I just can't concentrate. But I'll keep them for future reference.

[higginsdj]

Wow - what a great find. I've just installed iTunes and bought an iPod. There's so much material out there. Berkeley, Ohio State, Michigan Tech as well as the AstroCast and more. I've already filled up the Nano's 4gb memory - so much to listen to and watch.

Is it worthwhile to have a forum/thread dedicated to astro education?

Cheers

[h0ughy]

yep its information overload - but I am enjoying it

[DobDobDob]

Me too, you can't complain about the price :P

[iceman]

hmm, not opposed to the idea. I think a whole forum might be overkill though, because I think it would get stale pretty quickly. Not sure how much "new" information would be added.

But a dedicated sticky thread in this forum could work.

I found Astronomy Media Player (http://www.jodcast.net/amp/index.html) website the other day, it's fantastic. Has a list/links to ALL astronomy podcasts/videocasts around the internet. Categories them too, so you can find the courses etc.

Using this website I discovered "Astro 10P", a course from University of California, Berkeley. It's not dissimilar to Astronomy 161/162, but it combines the two into 1 lecture series and skips through the old stuff much quicker. I've only listened to lecture 1 so far but I think I'll enjoy it.

Don't forget there's also the IceInSpace Podcasts (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/?podcasts) page, which now that i've found some more, will need to update!

[iceman]

So, Astronomy 161 podcast has just finished for the season.

Anyone except me keep listening right to the end? :D

Even though I'd already listenened to the full course from the 2006 edition, I still found it just as interesting, educational and entertaining the second time around.

[h0ughy]

I havent had a chance to catch up on it:sadeyes:

[DJDD]

I am ploughing through Astronomy 161 at the moment. Luckily, the drive to work = 1/2 a lesson so I get through about one lesson per day.

I quite liked the historical stuff. e.g. Newton- discovers 6 new theories whilst on an enforced break from teaching. hah! what did I do in the last two years?!? :P

I even listened to the chemistry overviews as it refreshed my knowledge from my university days.

DJDD

[Dooghan]

I listen to most of them while working. I good way of passing the day. MP3 player in the hardhat and 1 earphone down into the earmuff. I'm up to 40 and 6 to go. As I have an RDO today that's what I'll be doing and catching up on some others also. I found it a really interesting course. There was some podcast I had to listen a number of times to try and picture what he was was saying. I also found some of that maths just to hard to get my head around. Might have been easier if I had the slides in front of me. Learning about the history and the people was really enjoyable.

Dooghan

[goober]

Thanks for the tip - listened to a couple already. Very enjoyable listening for the daily commute.

[sheeny]

I've been listening to bits and pieces of 161 even though I've already listened to the 2006 161 but I've just finished the 2006 162, which I found more interesting - a bit meatier!

I'd like to find a "163"...

Al.

[iceman]

I agree Al, 162 is great. I enjoyed both immensely.

[goober]

Took three months, but I've just finished Astronomy 161. Very good, great to listen to an episode every day on the hike home. I really enjoyed the first 15-20 lectures tracing the history up to Newton. It gets a little tough to follow as the maths kicks in for the next 5 lectures. Ends up with a very thorough series of lectures covering the solar system.

I'll move onto 162 after Easter.

[Brian W]

as with the others I am working my way through it and I will get to the end. Will download the 62 too.
Brian

[spacezebra]

Hey there

Bring on 163 I say!!! I have enjoyed both 161 and 162! more please.........

Cheers Petra

[tbentley]

Only just found it because of this thanks Mike. I'm starting to download it now and it'll go straight onto the mp3 player. Sounds fascinating anyway.

Travis

[Meadehead]

I've finished 161 & up to 14 of 162. I listen during my drive to work, but I find at times hard to concentrate.

Great lectures:thumbsup:

[shane shaw]

is there a link or a way to download them all at once . like a all lessons link download ?

thanks

[iceman]

I'm not sure Shane, but if you use a podcast-grabber tool like iTunes or Zencast etc, then it'll have the whole list there and it's pretty quick and easy to just double-click on it each one.

Or maybe even those tools have a "download all" option when showing you the list of podcasts.

[shane shaw]

thanks mate I will have to get myself a pod to listen when I am driving

[erick]

I finally took the plunge and listened to a lecture from 161. Very good! Useful to be monitoring the lecture notes and diagrams at the same time.

[iceman]

You slacker Eric! Get into it!

[erick]

And I have an hour drive to and from work every day!:rolleyes:

How do I read the lecture notes at the same time :confuse3: Oh, that's right - I go through more than 80 sets of traffic lights and too many of them are always RED! :D

[goober]

There are lecture notes? :)

I'm about four into 162 ... still good stuff.

[erick]

OK, got them all down - started 161 this morning in the car. Do I ever need an in-car Mp3 player, else a CD/tuner with Aux input!! Any recommendations? Currently balancing a CD/Mp3 player on the passenger's seat with FM transmitter dongle trnansmitting to the radio. Finally realised I need to put my antenna down to get the best result, down around 88.1-88.7! There are a couple of stations there on my drive to work.

He seems to be a good lecturer, but simple stuff at present - seems like my PhD in Science was useful for something! We'll see when we get into the depths of 162!

[erick]

OK, it cost me a new Sony headunit for my car so I could play mp3s from CD (It's for educational purposes, Dear), but I'm close to the end of 161. The head unit was a fairly simple drop in, but had to cut and solder the wiring, but same colour coding - sometimes you win!

Learnt lots of details I didn't know, enjoying his style - the hyper-enthusiastic, slightly absent-minded professor!

Currently he's getting overly excited about the moons of the gas and ice giants, and rightfully so!

From the start of the lecture on Jupiter and Saturn, he was missing the red channel on his data projector - he struggled on, but I can only imagine what the images of those two planets look like minus the red channel!! :help: At some stage he moves his laptop and the full image appears! VGA plug connection, obviously. (As I've always said - the most interesting sight at a University is a handful of professors trying to get the slide projector working!)

Every minute of car travel is devoted to listening now. I'm looking forward to the wrap up of 161 and then move on to 162. Thanks for the links to these lectures.

ps. He gives shoutouts to some of his podcast listeners who contact him. He seemed chuffed with a listener in Tasmania, but hoped for one at the antipodes to Columbus, Ohio, which he calculated to be 300km (or was it miles ;)) west of Perth. Maybe Perth would do! However, his calculation seems to be way out?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes

[Ian Robinson]

I started but pulled out of a Phys200 level subject called Astronomy a few years ago , I wanted to do it as an extraneous subject (was doing yet another undergrad program at the time) but when I was told it would cost me full fees - I ditched.

It was the course given by Dr.Pavel Smrz.

Here's the link http://webapps.newcastle.edu.au/handbook/index.cfm?event=handbookResults&course_level=&noSearch=true&timetable=&term_year=2008&strm=4815,4825,4840,4845,4855,4875, 4880,4885,4900&subject_area=PHYS&catalog_id=2100

[Alchemy]

just finished the 161 course... passed with flying colours :D

got promoted to the 162 course.... discovered a few things i didnt know about spectrography .... all those absorption lines arent what i thought they were , halfway through the explanation .... then the battery went flat...... charging at the moment:)

i got to listen to 4 hrs worth at work today, not the usual entertainment on a buiding site!!!!

[renormalised]

Hey guys, since you're all interested in doing online astronomy courses, why don't you take the plunge and try doing a full degree online, like a masters degree. Swinburne and James Cook Uni both offer online masters degrees (as well as other courses). They're full on degrees, nothing mickey mouse about them. You may have to pay full fees, but you can get help to pay the fees. The government has 2 plans, FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP. FEE-HELP is probably the better one as it pays for your fees and all you do is pay back a small percentage yearly in tax later, after you finish. Actually the JCU course is looking for students to start in 2nd semester, now. Go and have a look and find out. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

[erick]

I'm half way through the time travel lecture in 162 - almost there. It's been addictive. I arrive at home and sit in the car for another 10-15 mins to finish a lecture! I sure have learnt some stuff!! :thumbsup: