This course investigates the origin of life on the Earth and the prospects for finding life elsewhere in the cosmos, and begins with an overview of the Earth's place in the solar system and the universe. The course examines the early history of the Earth and the development of life, changes in the sun that affect the Earth, characteristics of the other objects in our solar system and their potential for supporting life, the detection of planets around stars other than the sun, and the search for extraterrestrial life. Our exploration of our place in the universe will include some nighttime observing at our on-campus observatory.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 36
Prerequisites: Fulfillment of the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) component of the Quantitative Reasoning & Data Literacy requirement.
Instructor: Watters
Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Fall and Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall; Spring
Notes:
This course provides an overview of the Universe through the lens of the physical principles that help us to probe it from right here on our puny planetary perch. Topics include stars and their planetary companions, the lives and deaths of stars, black holes, galaxies, and the origin and fate of the Universe. Class meetings include a mix of lecture and daytime laboratory activities. Additional required weekly nighttime sessions (scheduled according to the weather) guide students through their own observations of the sky with both naked eyes and the historic and modern telescopes of Whitin Observatory. This course serves as a gateway to more advanced courses in our astronomy curriculum.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 28
Prerequisites: Open to First-Years and Sophomores only. Fulfillment of the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) component of the Quantitative Reasoning & Data Literacy requirement. High school physics strongly recommended.
Instructor: Mowla
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving; LAB - Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory; NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Fall and Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes:
This course will focus on exoplanets and the stellar systems they inhabit. Topics include exoplanet demographics, techniques of discovery and characterization, models of formation and evolution, and potential for future telescopes to uncover signs of atmospheric chemistry and habitability. Students will practice application of physical principles, build data analysis skills, and be introduced to astronomical literature. Students will also make exoplanet transit observations with our on-campus telescope and will model the resulting light curve to ascertain properties of a real exoplanetary system.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 20
Prerequisites: ASTR 107; or ASTR 100 with permission of the instructor.
Instructor: McLeod
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving; NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Degree Requirements: DL - Data Literacy (Formerly QRF); DL - Data Literacy (Formerly QRDL)
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes:
Design your own planetary mission and build your own scientific probe in this project-based course about the practice of planetary exploration! Students will learn about the science and technology of exploring extreme environments through studying the development of a historical planetary mission and by building their own instrumented probe to investigate a challenging environment such as the Earth's lower atmosphere or the bottom of Lake Waban. Depending on their role in the project, students can gain experience with a wide range of new skills, such as how to assemble and test electronic circuits, computer programming, and data analysis.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 12
Prerequisites: Fulfillment of the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) component of the Quantitative Reasoning & Data Literacy requirement. Any 100-level science course (including CS). High school physics recommended.
Instructor: Watters
Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences; LAB - Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes:
This course provides an introduction to modern methods of astronomical observation. Students will learn to use the Whitin Observatory's 0.7m research telescope. Topics include: planning observations, modern instrumentation, and the acquisition and quantitative analysis of astronomical images. This course requires substantial nighttime telescope use and culminates with an independent observing project.
Units: 1.25
Max Enrollment: 12
Prerequisites: ASTR 107
Instructor: McLeod
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving; LAB - Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory; NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes:
The 21st-century Universe is weirder than 20th-century astronomers could imagine: its matter is mostly dark, the effects of dark energy dominate its evolution, and it is expanding at an accelerating rate. The galaxies in our Universe come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; they are cocooned in dark matter envelopes and harbor monster black holes at their centers. This class will explore what we think we know about our Universe's makeup, history, and fate. We will develop some of the basic laws of physics necessary to understand theoretical cosmology and galaxy evolution and apply them to the interpretation of modern observations.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 20
Prerequisites: Either ASTR 107 and MATH 116, or PHYS 107.
Instructor: McLeod, Mowla
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving; NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes:
Have you wondered what Earth's climate was like 3 billion years ago? What about weather patterns on Titan and climate change on Mars? In this course, we'll explore the structure and evolution of atmospheres and the climate on four worlds: the Earth, Mars, Venus, and Saturn's moon Titan. We'll examine the techniques and tools that geologists use to learn about the history of Earth's climate and that planetary scientists use to learn about the atmospheres and surface environments on other worlds. Students will also gain experience simulating the climate system and computing atmospheric properties. Other topics include: the super-rotation of Venus's atmosphere and its Runaway Greenhouse climate, the destruction of atmospheres on low-gravity worlds, and the future of Earth's climate as the Sun grows steadily brighter.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 20
Crosslisted Courses: GEOS 223
Prerequisites: MATH 116 and PHYS 107 and one of the following (ES 101, ASTR 100, ASTR 107, GEOS 101, or GEOS 102), or permission of the instructor.
Instructor: Watters
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving; NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered
Notes:
Anomalies are observable phenomena that resist explanation in terms of a prevailing set of scientific beliefs. As such, anomalies sometimes have the effect of driving upheavals in scientific thought, in some cases overturning deeply-entrenched paradigms. Examples include: (a) the discovery that rocks fall to earth from space, and (b) aberrations in the orbit of Mercury that required a new theory of gravity to fully understand. Observations that at first appear anomalous sometimes turn out to be illusory, such as canal-like features reported in early 20th century telescopic observations of Mars. This course will explore the role of anomalies in driving scientific discovery, and in testing our critical thinking faculties, as well as our standards for what kinds of knowledge and inquiry count as "scientific". We will address case studies from this history of astronomy and other sciences, as well as relevant epistemological questions and social critiques of the modern scientific enterprise. We will also examine present-day candidate anomalies from within the scientific mainstream such as dark matter, as well as from the so-called pseudoscientific fringe, such as paranormal phenomena and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 12
Prerequisites: Any 100-level science course taken at Wellesley.
Instructor: Watters
Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Every three years
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes:
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 15
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
Instructor:
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes:
Units: 0.5
Max Enrollment: 15
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
Instructor:
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes: Mandatory Credit/Non Credit
Units: 0.5
Max Enrollment: 15
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
Instructor:
Typical Periods Offered: Fall and Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes:
Spacecraft observations have revealed a breathtaking diversity of geologic features in the solar system, such as the giant impact basins on Mars, towering thrust fault scarps on Mercury, coronae structures on Venus, and active volcanoes on Io and Enceladus. From a comparative perspective, this course examines the physical processes that drive the evolution of the planets and small bodies in the solar system. Topics include: planetary shape and internal structure, mechanisms of topographic support, tectonics, impacts, volcanism, and tides. Some class sessions are reserved for seminar-style discussions of journal articles. Students will produce a final project that involves researching a topic of their choosing.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 12
Crosslisted Courses: GEOS 313
Prerequisites: Any 100-level course in ASTR or GEOS in addition to at least one of the following - PHYS 107, GEOS 203, GEOS 218, or GEOS 220. An introductory course in mechanics (e.g., PHYS 104 or PHYS 107) is not required but is strongly recommended.
Instructor: Watters
Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes:
In this course students will learn advanced techniques for experimental astronomy and planetary science. Students will carry out term-long projects involving acquisition and analysis of data. In some cases these data will be derived from observations performed with telescopes or instruments built by the students themselves. In other cases students will build projects around data from space missions or ground or space-based telescopes. Techniques may include spectroscopy, photometry, multiwavelength astronomy, remote sensing of planetary surfaces, particle astrophysics, and gravitational wave astronomy.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 8
Crosslisted Courses: PHYS 30 4
Prerequisites: ASTR 202, ASTR 206, PHYS 210 or prior experience with instrumentation with permission of the instructor.
Instructor: Staff
Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences
Typical Periods Offered: Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered
Notes: Not offered every year.
Astrophysics is the application of physics to the study of the Universe. We will use elements of mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, special relativity, and nuclear physics to investigate selected topics such as planetary dynamics, the life stories of stars and galaxies, the interstellar medium, high-energy processes, and large scale structure in the Universe. Our goals will be to develop insight into the physical underpinnings of the natural world and to construct a "universal toolkit" of practical astrophysical techniques that can be applied to the entire celestial menagerie.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 16
Crosslisted Courses: PHYS 311
Prerequisites: PHYS 205; pre or co-requisite PHYS 207.
Instructor: Mowla
Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences; MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes:
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 15
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Open to juniors and seniors.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 5
Prerequisites: Permission of the department.
Typical Periods Offered: Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes: Students enroll in Senior Thesis Research (360) in the first semester and carry out independent work under the supervision of a faculty member, sometimes in coordination with an off-site mentor. If sufficient progress is made, students may continue with Senior Thesis (370) in the second semester.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Prerequisites: ASTR 360 and permission of the department.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes: Students enroll in Senior Thesis Research (360) in the first semester and carry out independent work under the supervision of a faculty member. If sufficient progress is made, students may continue with Senior Thesis (370) in the second semester.