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Sep 2006
35m 7s

Lecture 3: The Starry Night

Richard Pogge
About this episode
What are the constellations, and how have they be named and used by many different cultures throughout human history? We will review the most basic feature of the night sky, the 6000 visible stars sprinkled about the sky, and introduce the idea of constellations, reviewing their history and uses. We'll end with a brief discussion of where stars get their ... Show More
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Sep 2006
Welcome to Astronomy 161
Welcome to the Astronomy 161 Lecture Podcasts. This is a brief message from me explaining the podcasts, and welcoming new and old listeners. University. Lectures will begin on Wednesday, 2006 Sept 20, and run through Friday, 2006 December 1. New lectures will appear shortly befor ... Show More
4m 6s
Sep 2006
Lecture 2: Astronomical Numbers
Before we can begin our exploration of astronomy, we need to develop a common language for notating large numbers, and introduce the basic units of length, mass, and time that we will use throughout the quarter. We will first re-introduce the basic metric system, explaining how t ... Show More
43m 29s
Sep 2006
Lecture 4: Measuring the Earth
What is the shape and size of the Earth? This lecture traces historical ideas about the shape of the Earth, from ancient flat-Earth models to the compelling demonstrations by Aristotle in the 3rd century BC that the Earth was a sphere. We then discuss ways people measured the siz ... Show More
42m 20s
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