Fall 2026

Our Exploration of the Solar System

ASTRON 104 explores the modern understanding of the solar system, planetary formation, and exoplanets, covering celestial motions, gravity, and the history of astronomy.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Nicholas Mcconnell3.8/5Eshan Raul

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews indicate low homework time, but note that exams heavily recycle questions from homework and practice materials.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A. Not open to students with credit forASTRON 200.

    • Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A.
    • not eligible with
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ASTRON 104 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • All of
    • Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A.
    • Not eligible with

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.20/5 from 10 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.43 GPA, 74.5% A/AB (n=149 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Alex Lazarian: Alex Lazarian is described as highly intelligent, though his teaching style is polarizing. Some students find his lectures disorganized or difficult to understand due to his accent, while others appreciate his humor. Several reviewers note that lectures are often minimally useful, requiring significant self-study from textbooks to succeed.

ALEX LAZARIAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

NICHOLAS MCCONNELL is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction138 / 1800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction11 / 300
DIS 302Classroom Instruction21 / 300
DIS 304Classroom Instruction28 / 300
DIS 303Classroom Instruction28 / 300
DIS 305Classroom Instruction19 / 300
DIS 306Classroom Instruction11 / 300
DIS 311Classroom Instruction20 / 00

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Historical reviews for Alex Lazarian describe the course as either a highly enjoyable, easy experience or a frustrating one where lectures are unhelpful and self-study is required.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.90 GPA, 91.4% A/AB (n=163 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.77 GPA, 89.2% A/AB (n=148 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.43 GPA, 74.5% A/AB (n=149 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews indicate low homework time, but note that exams heavily recycle questions from homework and practice materials.

Historical reviews of Alex Lazarian: Students report that Lazarian's lectures are often disorganized or difficult to understand due to his accent, making textbook study essential.

Topics

  • Celestial motions, ancient astronomy, and the Copernican revolution
  • Solar system formation, planetary surveys, and small bodies
  • Planetary evolution and exoplanets

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.29 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
ASTRON 104 · Fall 2026

Our Exploration of the Solar System

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:188:001539",
    "course_id": "ASTRON 104",
    "course_uid": "course_ceb4b306e704c0b67324db5e",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001539",
    "source_subject_id": "188",
    "title": "Our Exploration of the Solar System",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "db54291bbc597295e22005c8307a24fdd9b45ce4125555f29a762979f052b34c",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}