Lecture One

The Distance Scale of the Universe  -  from the Solar System to Galaxy Clusters

The Constellations  -  Using a Planisphere

Celestial Navigation  -  Celestial Co-ordinates
 

Lecture Two

Circumpolar Constellations  -  Perseus and Cassiopeia

             Measuring the stars  -  Stellar Magnitudes and Distances

History of Astronomy  -   Egyptian Astronomers
 

Lecture Three

History of Astronomy  -  from Copernicus to Galileo

   Planetary Motion  -  Earth & Moon / Eclipses

  The Orion Nebula  -  A Stellar Nursery
 

Lecture Four

Our Neighbour, the Moon  -  How was it formed ?

  The Inner Planets  -  Mercury, Venus, Mars

The Constellations  -  The Bear & The Lion
 
 

Lecture Five

             Classifying Stars  -  The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

Star Formation  -  The Birth of Protostars

 Stellar Associations  -  Open Clusters: The Pleiades
 
 

Lecture Six

  The Constellations of Spring  -  Bootes, Corona Borealis & Hercules

The Outer Planets  -  Jupiter to Pluto

                The Active Sun  -  Sunspots, Flares & Prominences
 

Lecture Seven

The Constellations of the Zodiac  -  Precession and the Equinox

    The Constellations of Summer  -  Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila

                  The Life Cycles of Stars  -  Supernovae and Planetary Nebulae
 

Lecture Eight

Our Galaxy, The Milky Way  -  The Interstellar Medium

                The Local Group  -  The Coma and Virgo Clusters

  The Evolution of Galaxies  -  Quasars and Active Galaxies
 

Lecture Nine

The Origin of the Universe  -  The Big Bang Theory

         Discoveries of Radioastronomy  -  Pulsars, Quasars & Little Green Men

The "Southern" Constellations  -  Sagittarius and Scorpio
 

Lecture Ten

                Satellites and Spacecraft  -  Latest Results / New Theories

               Basic Astrophotography  -  Take Your Own Photos of the Sky

   THE BIG ASTRO-QUIZ  -  How Much Do You Know ?
 

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This course is held on Monday evenings at the Fielden Park Centre of the City College Manchester.
It is taught by Mr. John H Thomson, a local Physics teacher and member of the Macclesfield Astronomical Society which meets at the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope Laboratory in Goostrey on the first Tuesday of every month.
The course is part of the BBC Education Adult Studies Programme - "The Learning Zone"