Introduction to Astronomy (Coursera)

Introduction to Astronomy (Coursera)
Free Course
Categories
Effort
Certification
Languages
The ability to calculate with large and small numbers. A familiarity with the rudiments of high-school algebra. A basic background in science at a high school level.
Misc
Introduction to Astronomy (Coursera)
An introduction to astronomy through a broad survey of what we know about the universe and how we know it.

In this class, we will be studying, quite literally, everything in the universe. We will start with "classical" astronomy, describing the night sky and organizing what we see as was done in ancient times. We will then embark on a journey, starting here on Earth and progressing outward, to study the Solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the wonderful and strange objects we observe in deep space, such as black holes, quasars, and supernovae. We will end with some discussion of what scientists know today about the universe as a whole. Along the way we will introduce some of the methods, theoretical and experimental, that have been used to understand all of this, from Newton's laws, through our understanding of light and matter, to Einstein's theory of relativity, and from Galileo's telescope to WMAP.





Free Course
The ability to calculate with large and small numbers. A familiarity with the rudiments of high-school algebra. A basic background in science at a high school level.