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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Astro 101: Black Holes by University of Alberta

4.8
stars
1,048 ratings

About the Course

What is a black hole? Do they really exist? How do they form? How are they related to stars? What would happen if you fell into one? How do you see a black hole if they emit no light? What’s the difference between a black hole and a really dark star? Could a particle accelerator create a black hole? Can a black hole also be a worm hole or a time machine? In Astro 101: Black Holes, you will explore the concepts behind black holes. Using the theme of black holes, you will learn the basic ideas of astronomy, relativity, and quantum physics. After completing this course, you will be able to: • Describe the essential properties of black holes. • Explain recent black hole research using plain language and appropriate analogies. • Compare black holes in popular culture to modern physics to distinguish science fact from science fiction. • Describe the application of fundamental physical concepts including gravity, special and general relativity, and quantum mechanics to reported scientific observations. • Recognize different types of stars and distinguish which stars can potentially become black holes. • Differentiate types of black holes and classify each type as observed or theoretical. • Characterize formation theories associated with each type of black hole. • Identify different ways of detecting black holes, and appropriate technologies associated with each detection method. • Summarize the puzzles facing black hole researchers in modern science....

Top reviews

SK

Jul 30, 2020

i love this course, everything from knowledge to the visual and scientific data, this course amazed me.

i thanking to all the person in this course to sharing this knowledge in such an amazing way

YD

Jan 1, 2021

The course was very interesting . I loved that the expainations used references to known movies and TV shows, it made the more entartaining and made me try to use the formulas I learned in real life.

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301 - 325 of 362 Reviews for Astro 101: Black Holes

By João M

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Dec 4, 2020

Great course!

By Amit K P

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Nov 14, 2020

its very good

By Hany h A

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Sep 18, 2022

nice course

By Nec P

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Dec 7, 2020

I loved it!

By Thaslima s h

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Nov 25, 2020

Amazing!!!!

By Nehal p

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Jul 2, 2020

excellent .

By ABDULRAHEEM A B A

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Sep 16, 2023

Thank you

By John S

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Jul 1, 2021

excellent

By Will F

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Jan 4, 2024

Very Good

By Suni S

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Oct 20, 2023

Educative

By ELMER M P

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Oct 31, 2021

thank you

By Pierpaolo Z

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Dec 5, 2020

excellent

By Deleted A

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Jul 26, 2020

Good Job!

By Aneep K

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Dec 28, 2022

AWESOME

By Bülent Ü

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Feb 20, 2021

perfect

By SANTOSHBALAJI R

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Jun 16, 2020

wooooow

By abbassareini

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Aug 19, 2023

10/10

By MANCHALA R T

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Dec 4, 2021

By Markus W

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Aug 6, 2019

T

By Hussain Y

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Dec 25, 2018

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By Robert C C

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Nov 1, 2018

G

By Shauna B

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Apr 23, 2022

I really enjoyed this course. While it needed a sustained and focussed effort, I found it more and more interesting as I went along, at my own pace. I have a degree in Chemistry so had done some Physics in University, which helped. I might not recommend it to folks who didn't have some higher math, as that helped me immensely. Some of the equations I'd seen before (like Planck's and time dilation) and I'm comfortable with scientific notation. But that won't be true for everyone. Perhaps a little side unit to help people grapple with formula math and test their skills? A little cheat sheet they could revisit as they plowed into the more complex formulas?

I've always been intrigued by black holes and the course made me even more interested in: how we've observed them (gravitational radiation and pulsar timing arrays are way cool BTW) as well the different black holes in our galaxy and universe. The use of analogies was great (a lot of food involved) and helped with the more mind-bending concepts. In a way, your intellects bent my mind the way that black holes bend light! It was a fun journey and I appreciate all the thought and effort that clearly went into this course. Not to mention the cumulative knowledge of the team of presenters and the guest speakers. Impressive. Thanks very much.

I'll be looking to see if there are similar courses on astronomy. I've taken 3 courses from the U of A (Dinos, Bugs, and Black Holes) - all of the 101 type. Each and every one has been excellent. Thank you for making higher education generally accessible - it has been a mental lifesaver.

By Miranda H

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Jan 5, 2019

Very interesting course. Between the colourful backgrounds of the speakers, simple imagery and the food analogies, they made astronomical theories and evidence much easier to understand for those who do not come from a physics background. Perhaps minor issues here and there with sound and when the speaker was not looking directly at the screen it could be a little off-putting, but other than that, it was an amazing course. I come from a biological sciences background (specifically health sciences) and I found this quite easy to understand. Tests were also fair as they were based on theories and confirmed evidence rather than equations, and weren't too difficult if you paid attention to the videos. Even if you didn't 100% understand a concept, the images presented to you stick quite well in your mind to the point you are able to answer the test questions easier. Coming out of this, I now have a greater understanding of some of the greatest physics concepts from Newton, Einstein, and so on. I have also expanded my knowledge of astronomy and the universe, as I have been studying it since I was a little girl, but was unfortunately able to pursue it due to my strong dislike for physics (you know, boring plain Earth physics). This helped me to continue on my passion for astronomy while also avoiding those icky physics courses. Thanks to the UofA and their group of astronomers for putting this together for anyone needing their astronomy fix.

By Janice a W

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Feb 4, 2022

This was an excellent course. I knew nothing about physics, astronomy or Black Holes. The course kept me engaged. and I feel I have a much greater understanding. I took this course so I could understand some of the discussions that would happen as the James Webb Telescope starts to send info back to us. I have way more vocabulary than I did 4 weeks ago. Thank you to the University of Alberta for another fabulous course. I took this course in conjunction with Class Central and found that CC helped keep me focused and on task. It was wonderful when Dr Sharon joined us for a live session and one of the Astrophysicists from the Greenland Radio Telescope joined us. This was very exciting for me!!