A Beginner’s Guide to the Universe – Re-open for Registration
In-person – Friday 10:10 am – 12:10 pm
Sept. 22, 29 Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27 (2 hour class) 
Want to know more about our Earth, our solar system, the Milky Way and beyond? We lay the groundwork for a rigorous, but easily understandable, knowledge of astronomy, and better yet — without homework and math! We gradually introduce a range of topics to progressively educate and entertain. Amazing photographs and artists’ conceptions fill every page, providing a panoramic view of the phenomenon under discussion.
We start with a couple picnicking in Central Park and employ them as a yardstick, building a ladder that runs from them to the smallest things known. Reversing the process, we journey upward to the largest structures of the Universe. We then examine the development of astronomy from its earliest times to the dawn of the 20th century. Insight is given into those most common and recognizable of all astronomical figures, the stars, including our Sun. We complete our history of astronomy, including such topics as multiverses and the discovery of planetary systems not our own. Returning to our own solar system, surprisingly, we find it a far more complex place than the one we learned about in our youth! Lastly, we kickback and view 25 spectacular space photos captured by the first space telescope, the Hubble.
- Week 1: The scale of the universe – a journey from the very small to the very large
- Week 2: A brief history of astronomy to 1900 CE – the ancient astronomers to the dawn of the 20th
century - Week 3: The life histories of stars – types, characteristics, and behaviors of stars
- Week 4: A brief history of astronomy post-1900 CE – from Einstein to the Webb space telescope
- Week 5: A traveler’s guide to the solar system – the structures of the solar system and their contributions to life on Earth
- Week 6: Twenty-five images from the Hubble – spectacular views from the pioneering space- based telescope
William (Bill) Preinitz attended Northern Illinois University earning a BS in Finance and a BA in Mathematics. He served in the US Army and used the GI Bill to earn an MBA from NIU with a concentration in Operations Research. He accepted a position on Wall Street in the investment banking industry and rose to Managing Director. Bill retired in 2008 and authored two college textbooks on financial analytics.