This Astronomy course includes historical astronomy using The Project Physics Course text and observational astronomy using The Stargazer’s Guide to the Night Sky. Astronomy-only carries the successful completion of Algebra I as its only prerequisite.
All course content is normed to the Holy Scriptures by a teacher who acknowledges the historicity of the Genesis account, as does the Lord Himself (Matt. 24:37–39; Mark 10:6; Luke 3:38; 11:50–51; 17:26–27) and His apostles (Acts 17:24–27; Rom. 1:18–20; 5:12; 8:19–20; I Cor. 15:21–22; I Pet. 3:20; II Pet. 2:5; 3:3–6), albeit implicitly. That is, Genesis chapter one is God’s own account (penned by Moses) of His Creation ex nihilo in six natural days some 6,000 years ago (Gen. 5; 11; Luke 3), and Genesis chapters 6–9 describe a catastrophic global flood that profoundly impacted the earth’s geology, in which all land animals and mankind perished save those on the ark.
Please note: this course is one semester—eight weeks before the Christmas break and eight weeks after.

Auditing Option

Students are strongly encouraged to audit Quarters 1 and 4 of The Project Physics w/ Astronomy.

Course Objectives

• Motion in the Heavens with Celestial Coordinates (Quarters 2–3): Where Is the Earth?
• The Greeks’ Answers
• Does the Earth Move? — Work of Copernicus and Tycho
• A New Universe Appears — Work of Kepler and Galileo
• The Unity of Earth and Sky — Work of Newton
• Greater and Lesser Lights (Lisle)
• New Findings in the Heavens — Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (Unit B)
• Stargazing (Lisle)
• Hubble and Beyond

Significant scientific advances since 1970 will be noted here and in context.

Texts

• The Project Physics Course materials (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970). Primary student resources are the Text and Handbook for Unit 2, supplemented by the Unit 2 Reader and supplementary Unit B.
• The Stargazer’s Guide to the Night Sky by Dr. Jason Lisle (Master Books, 2012). A Kindle edition is available, but the hardback version is preferred because it includes a planisphere in its back jacket pocket.