Astronomy: Observation and Theories is a documentary telecourse (video-based course) produced between 2005 and 2006. It consists of twenty 28 minute episode (called "lessons"), and it is frequently broadcast on on college-run public television stations. It was produced by the Coast Learning Systems division of Coastline Community College. This series was developed under the supervision of a National Academic Advisory team representing community colleges and universities all over the United States.
Produced by Peter Berkow, co-produced by Peter Berkow and Kris Koenig, with Laurie Melby and Dan Jones serving as Executive Producers. Steve Chollet served as an associate producer, and cinematographers include Anita Berkow and Kris Koenig. The series was edited by Steve Chollet and Bruce Coykendall, and series writing was done by Kris Koenig. The music was done by Scott Dugdale.
Episode List[]
- S1E1 - The Study of the Universe - The first episode, introduces viewers to galaxies, superclusters, stars, and planets which will be discussed in future episodes.
- S1E2 - Observing the Sky - Explains the concept of a 'scientific model' to help describe a celestial sphere, and to organize the night sky. The naming of the stars and constellations by different cultures is discussed.
- S1E3 - Celestial Cycles - Looks at the motion, size, and cycles of the Sun, Moon, and the Earth, and covers the prediction of solar eclipses.
- S1E4 - The Birth of Astronomy - Presents the foundations, theories, observations, and contributions to Astronomy.
- S1E5 - Astronomical Tools - Attempts to answer what is light and what tools are used to collect it.
- S1E6 - The Science of Starlight - Presents the stellar classification system along with the interactions of atoms and light, and the history of spectral classes.
- S1E7 - The Sun: Our Star - Discusses the Sun's interior layers, atmosphere, magnetic cycle, and its effects on the Earth.
- S1E8 - The Family of Stars - Shows viewers how to find distance to nearby stars and how to plot them on an HR diagram, based on the principle that the brightness of a star is determined by its distance from Earth.
- S1E9 - Stellar Births - Examines the birth of stars in the process of stellar evolution, and looks at different types of nebulae and the ingredients needed to produce a star.
- S1E10 - Stellar Deaths - Details the life and death of stars, and the products that are leftover after a star dies.
- S1E11 - Stellar Remnants - Discusses neutron stars and black holes, remnants after a star's death. Also discusses highly energetic objects, gamma-ray bursts, and hypernovae.
- S1E12 - Our Galaxy: The Milky Way - Talks about the history and size of the Milky Way.
- S1E13 - Galaxies - Introduces Hubble Law, and discussions of the classifications of galaxies.
- S1E14 - Active Galaxies - Continues the discussion of galaxies, and introduces the concept of active galaxies.
- S1E15 - Cosmology - Introduces Cosmology, the study of the origin and fate of the universe, and discusses the Big Bang theory.
- S1E16 - Solar Systems - Discusses planetary systems and how they are formed. Introduces topics such as the solar nebula theory, and the detection of far away planets through the use of Doppler spectroscopy.
- S1E17 - The Terrestrial Planets - Details the formation and evolution of the Earth, compared to other terrestrial planets.
- S1E18 - The Jovian Worlds - Details the processes that allowed the gas giants in the Solar System to grow to such large sizes. It discusses gravity, volcanic activity, and atmosphere.
- S1E19 - Solar System Debris - Examines Solar System debris, meteorites, asteroids, and comets.
- S1E20 - The Search for Life Beyond - Discusses the possibility that the early seeds of life on Earth were delivered by comet impacts, and the reasons why it is believed that the first life began on the deep seafloor near hydrothermal vents.