Spring 2027

The Physical Universe

The Physical Universe applies physical principles to understand astronomical phenomena like the solar system, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and cosmology, emphasizing origins and evolution with required nighttime telescope observation.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Christy Tremonti3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Elena D''Onghia

A past student reported minimal homework that served as a mock exam before tests, noting that attendance requirements were initially about 70% but later became irrelevant.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Apply quantitative reasoning to evaluate scientific hypotheses to explain astronomical observations.

  • Apply--quantitatively--the scientific basis of astronomical concepts such as the Hubble law, the inverse square law, and Newtonian gravity.

  • Explain to a lay audience the scientific basis for the laws of stellar structure and evolution.

  • Critically evaluate qualitative scientific arguments using the scientific method.

  • Explain scientific discoveries for a variety of lay audiences.

  • Identify and summarize the nature of the universe's major components.

  • Apply important physical laws and concepts to follow the process by which astronomical discoveries are made

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PHYSICS 201, 207, 247 or MATH 222

ASTRON 200 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

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.80/5 from 20 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.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ELENA D'ONGHIA is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Spring 2017, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1000

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

Past student reviews · Elena D''Onghia

Past students described the course as straightforward, with helpful lectures that complemented the textbook and super easy midterms.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 94.5% A/AB (n=55 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.50 GPA, 76.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Elena D''Onghia

A past student reported minimal homework that served as a mock exam before tests, noting that attendance requirements were initially about 70% but later became irrelevant.

Past student reviews · Elena D''Onghia

Elena D'Onghia explained material simply and engaged directly with students, creating a supportive learning environment.

Topics

  • Solar system, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and cosmology with emphasis on origins and evolution.
  • Quantitative application of the Hubble law, inverse square law, and Newtonian gravity.
  • Scientific basis for the laws of stellar structure and evolution.

Skills

  • Apply quantitative reasoning to evaluate scientific hypotheses explaining astronomical observations.
  • Apply quantitative methods to astronomical concepts including the Hubble law, inverse square law, and Newtonian gravity.
  • Critically evaluate qualitative scientific arguments using the scientific method.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 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

1280 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 200 · Spring 2027

The Physical Universe

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:188:001548",
    "course_id": "ASTRON 200",
    "course_uid": "course_b03fdb5958a0637edd67f8b8",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "001548",
    "source_subject_id": "188",
    "title": "The Physical Universe",
    "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 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "af3bf7c399b1cca09b6ab328ec7af24f0cd7fb63f63c4f276181e0fc357c8fe8",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}