Beginners
Revisiting Our Cosmic Roots - One Lecture at a Time!
Made in the Universe Learn our stellar origins story
Understanding nothing - where did we all come from?
Distance, and character - Taming the Cerberus of Astronomy
Weird planets and why Pluto is no longer one of them
The most precious dwarf ever - Our Sun and its off-white legacy
Your unpleasant last few seconds inside a black hole
Timetable
Lectures
Assignments
Mentorship
Networking
Certificate
About This Course
Week 1: Introduction to Astronomy
- Astronomy is not astrology
- Constellations and mythology
- Types of telescopes
- Distances in space
- Course outline and expectations
Week 2: The Night Sky
- Common sky phenomena
- Uncommon sky phenomena (including why a UFO is probably not an alien spaceship)
- Popular stars, constellations, zodiac and familiar start names
- Rarely observed features of the night sky
Week 3: Sun and the Solar System
- Sun as an alien star that happens to be really close
- Why is Pluto not a planet anymore
- Weirdest things about rocky planets
- Weirdest things about outer planets
- Exploration of the Planets: Pretty pictures and real videos from spacecraft
Week 4: Starts and Galaxies
- Figuring out distances to stars
- Where are all the green stars
- Steller death and supernovae
- Galaxies; formation, types and fate
Week 5: Black Holes
- What is a black hole? Why staying away from a black hole is a good decision
- Making the sun look stupid small: comparing masses of black holes with the sun
- Let’s create a black hole out of the sun
- Falling into a black hole
Week 6: Aliens
- Places to look for aliens in our solar system
- Talking to aliens
- What might they look like
- Have we been visited by aliens before?
Week 7: Cosmology
- What is the Big Bang? What was before the Big Bang?
- How will the universe end
- What is Dark Energy
- Multiverse
Browse Lesson Plans
About Expert
Roshaan Bukhari
Science Communicator, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Roshaan Bukhari is a Science Communicator at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
He is an ardent amateur astronomer and serves as Vice President of Lahore Astronomical Society.
His day job also includes serving as a STEM Associate for Pak Alliance for Maths and Science. He
is also the producer and host for Kainaat Kids - Pakistan’s first Urdu-only astronomy video series
targeted for kids.