A study of the Earth and heavenly bodies, their observed characteristics and motions, and the theories that account for them. The course is designed to give the students an understanding of the tools and fundamental physical concepts of astronomy. Topics covered include celestial timekeeping, gravity, orbits, light, the birth and evolution of stars, basic relativity theory, black holes and other compact objects, dark matter, dark energy, and the big bang theory. One laboratory per week. Students may not receive credit for both Physics 020 and Physics 129. Co-requisite: Mathematics 157, 159, or equivalent (placement into 160 is sufficient).
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