Astronomy

Please note: this course is one semester, eight weeks before the Christmas break, and eight after.

Students are strongly encouraged to audit Quarters 1 and 4 of The Project Physics with Astronomy. The price for auditing is an additional $200. To register for the Auditing portion, click here.

This Astronomy course includes historical astronomy using The Project Physics Course text and observational astronomy using The Stargazers' 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, 11:50-1, 17:26-7) and his apostles (Acts 17:24-7; Rom. 1:18-20, 5:12, 8:19-20; I Cor. 15: 21-2; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 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 6000 years ago (Gen. 5, 11; Luke 3) and Genesis chapters 6-9 describe a catastrophic global flood that profoundly impacted the earth's geology and in which all land animals and mankind perished save those on the ark.

Course Objectives

Motion in the Heavens with "Celestial Coordinates" in 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). Project Physics Collection Primary student resource is 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). There is a Kindle edition available on Amazon at significantly reduced cost but the hardback version is preferred because it includes a planisphere in its back jacket pocket.