Spring 2027

Galaxies

Covers Milky Way structure, Local Group galaxies, observational techniques, composition, motions, active nuclei, and galaxy formation.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Kate Beatty

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Christy Tremonti

Students managed group homework assignments with instructor support, though the class could feel random at times due to the volume of new concepts introduced.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe current astrophysical theories and modern observations of galaxies.

  • Apply physical principles and mathematical techniques to understand the natural laws governing galaxies.

  • Use scientific computing methods to analyze and physically interpret galaxy data.

  • Practice clear and concise written and oral scientific communication.

  • Exhibit proper professional and ethical conduct while working in group settings.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

ASTRON 200 and (PHYSICS 241, 249,PHYSICS/​E C E 235, or concurrent enrollment)

ASTRON 330 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
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

CHRISTINA TREMONTI is recorded teaching in Fall 2012, Fall 2014, Fall 2016, Fall 2018. 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 / 500

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 · Christy Tremonti

The course covered a large amount of new terminology and acronyms, often at a surface level, while the instructor organized key information effectively in lecture slides.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.65 GPA, 85.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.60 GPA, 70.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.51 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=40 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Christy Tremonti

Students managed group homework assignments with instructor support, though the class could feel random at times due to the volume of new concepts introduced.

Past student reviews · Christy Tremonti

A past instructor was described as helpful and willing to schedule meetings to assist students with their work.

Topics

  • Milky Way structure and motions
  • Local Group galaxies
  • Galaxy observation techniques
  • Galaxy composition, active nuclei, and formation

Skills

  • Describing astrophysical theories and observations of galaxies
  • Applying physical principles and mathematical techniques to galaxy dynamics
  • Using scientific computing to analyze and interpret galaxy data
  • Practicing written and oral scientific communication

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 330 · Spring 2027

Galaxies

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": "1274:188:001556",
    "course_id": "ASTRON 330",
    "course_uid": "course_55a0e02ab923c68422ecc062",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "001556",
    "source_subject_id": "188",
    "title": "Galaxies",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "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": "dfeda97fecf9cd5e286a3dfb99c552dadf0e572807bf9329cbcb725c24eddce7",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}