ASTRONOMY 216

			    Carl Heiles 

	My main interest is the diffuse interstellar medium and its
dynamics.  The main focus of this course will be toward the diffuse
interstellar medium, but we will also cover dense regions and the basics
of star formation.  My office is 545 Campbell Hall, phone is 642-4510,
email heiles@vermi.  I like to make myself as available as possible, so
feel free to drop in at any time.  The problem with this approach is
that I am often difficult to find.  Also, I'm teaching another class,
the undergrad lab in radio astronomy; this is also time consuming.  If
I'm too busy I'll ask you to return at a later time; please don't be
offended.  You can make things more definite be seeing me after class,
or by making an appointment to see me at a time of mutual convenience. 

	The interstellar medium is complex, with many components and
physical processes.  We will attempt to cover the basics of most
everything, summarizing the essential physics but not going into too
much detail.  In some areas I'll try to summarize the level of current
research, but I can't keep up with everything so will, inevitably, fail
at this.  

	We will have problem sets every week, due 1 week later.  Much of
your basic QUALITATIVE understanding will come from doing the problem
sets.  The problem sets will often require reading journal articles, so
don't procastinate until the morning they are due.  You may work
together with other students.  You may also ask questions about the
problem set in Monday's class.  I would much rather answer questions
about a problem set in class than in private, so that everybody
benefits. 

	For each problem set we will designate a person, or persons,
responsible for its treatment. This means:

	1. Those people will meet with me the day the problems are due.
We'll discuss the solutions.

	2. They will generate LATEX-quality solutions.

	3. They will grade the work of the other students.

We will rotate this responsibility so that everyone has the same number
of chances for this wonderful experience. These people have one week to
enjoy this process.

	Spitzer's book will be essential for the course.  I will place
copies of the lecture notes in a notebook in the library, usually (I
hope) before each class so that you can have them in front of you during
class.  I will routinely suggest extra reading, and will attempt to
provide copies of the relevant articles in the library.