"How do they know that?" Modern astronomy has made some astonishing discoveries - how stars burn and how black holes form; galaxies from the edge of the universe and killer rocks right next door; where the elements come from and how the expanding universe is accelerating. But how do we know all that? The truth is that astronomy would be impossible without technology, and every advance in astronomy is really an advance in technology. But the technology by itself is not enough. We have to apply it critically with a knowledge of physics to unlock the secrets of the Universe. Each week we will cover a different aspect of Astronomical technology, matching each piece of technology to a highlight science result. We will explain how the technology works, how it has allowed us to collect astronomical data, and, with some basic physics, how we interpret the data to make scientific discoveries. The class will consist of video lectures, weekly quizzes, and discussion forums. Each week there will be five videos, totalling approximately 40 minutes. They will be in a regular pattern - a short introduction, an example science story, an explanation of the key technology area, a look at how the technology is used in practice, and finally a look at what the future may hold. Learners can apply for Financial Aid directly with Coursera to assist with the cost of accessing the full course and gaining a certificate for successfully completing the course.
RE
The professors were clear and well-articulated. It might have been my expectations but I had hoped for a deeper dive into the technology and more use of Math & Physics.
JC
Thank you for the course. Thoroughly enjoyable and interesting. I realise the course only scratches the surface of the various core topics covered but it's whetted my appetite to go deeper!
GS
Really well planned and thought out course. Though, I have one suggestion, can you please make a separate video on live demonstration of a telescope, just like you did in case of spectroscopy.
KM
I think the course is easy to understand for college level student. Now, i have a clear understanding of Many known things. Thanks for the well described lesson and teachings.
EE
This Course is phenominal and the mix of practicals shown with the consistency of thery makes it a remarkable product of gaining basics ofAstronomical knowledge
VP
looking forward to an advanced course from the team.The course has motivated me to go deeper in to the science and technology of astronomy.The modules are designed and delivered superably
LM
The course is thought provoking and provides a technological update in the field of astronomy.If there is any other updates from 2014, it would be great to update them in the course material.
AB
The entire six week was really wonderful and informative. Andy and Catherine have that special talent to keep the students focused and excited at the same time.
MM
Delivers what it promises. I was surprised that presentations made no use of 21st century technologies, no animations, no visualizations, for instance, just pen and paper.
BJ
The course was amazing especially when the instructor was explaining by using experiment instruments above all the way the instructors has taught me has completely made me understand the concepts.
EM
After completing the course, I was able to understand better some concepts in astronomy such as dark matter and dark energy as well as the technologies that helped uncover more truths in our universe.
NK
It is a great course for beginners......And for undergraduates like me, its good to enter into the field of Astronomical observations and refresh some concepts.
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After completing the course, I was able to understand better some concepts in astronomy such as dark matter and dark energy as well as the technologies that helped uncover more truths in our universe.
Really well planned and thought out course. Though, I have one suggestion, can you please make a separate video on live demonstration of a telescope, just like you did in case of spectroscopy.
Thank you for the course. Thoroughly enjoyable and interesting. I realise the course only scratches the surface of the various core topics covered but it's whetted my appetite to go deeper!
looking forward to an advanced course from the team.The course has motivated me to go deeper in to the science and technology of astronomy.The modules are designed and delivered superably
Excellent Course!! Amazing Teachers!! You can learn a lot of fundamentals if you are new to the field.Highly recommended for people for starting who just getting into astronomy.
I m Bruno from argentina, i m 15. This course was very interesting, although i don t understand some of the equations that Catherine explained because I didn t learn equations with such complexity at school yet, but I was able to understand the concept that interested me.
Very good.
The course was really boring and unengaging
Amazing course! Definitely good for beginners. However, the course expects you to know the fundamentals of Physics, such as basic kinematics, forces, a little bit about energy and light, simple equations (solving and rewriting in Mathematical notation), etc. Anyone who has taken Highschool Physics should be able to understand the course without much difficulty.
I really enjoyed the expertise and insight on various topics that helped fill in the blanks for my other astronomy course, especially on how CCD's work to capture light. I would recommend people know a bit of physics for the math problems involving movement of celestial objects.
This course is so good. It covers high level concepts but got me super interested in aspects of astronomy I didn't even know existed. The information is brief but really useful and gets one thinking about the broader picture. Thanks for a great course!
The course was amazing especially when the instructor was explaining by using experiment instruments above all the way the instructors has taught me has completely made me understand the concepts.
This Course is phenominal and the mix of practicals shown with the consistency of thery makes it a remarkable product of gaining basics ofAstronomical knowledge
This interesting and clear course continue studying and researching, there is a lot to learn, we still hope to have more more advanced courses. Congratulations
Very exciting course!! It's short but sweet. This experience has me seriously thinking about doing a deep dive into the spectrographic technology.
Provides new insights for Dark Energy and Dark Matter and also helps one understand the basic Physics as applied to Astronomy.Really nice course !
It was a very nice course. I just wish they gave more questions on the quizzes
great starter for astronomy and cosmology :)
Loved it. Learnt many new things :)
This course presents basic science and tech used behind many of the astronomical discoveries, introducing us to methods and instruments used by astronomers. The course is very basic in nature, hence good for those who seek some astro knowledge for fun & curiosity. Presentation by instructors was also very good. Great use of real data and photographs to help in understanding and imagination. A large number of website links provided for looking up additional information. Overall,
It has been a wonderful journey to have been a part of this course as a space lover!
This is a unique course, giving nice introduction about different technologies used by astronomers for observations. I particularly liked organizing it around revolutionary technologies. A small suggestion: Please expand this course, especially for computers and spectroscopy. For example, data analysis pipelines, machine learning, virtual observatories can be discussed for role of computers, and for spectroscopy role of filters such as Sloan filters (if I recall them correctly). Overall, great introduction.