Astronomy 162:
Introduction to Stellar, Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy
Autumn 2001

Syllabus & Reading Assignments

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Textbook:

W. J. Kaufmann III,		Universe
R. A. Freedman		(5th or 6th Editions)

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Messages in the Light from Stars

Week 1 (September 19-21) :

• Lecture 1 (September 19): Review of Celestial Sphere. Constellations, Star Motions.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Review all Chapter 1, and Sections 2.1 to 2.5. Boxes 1-2, 1-3 (1-1, 1-2).

• Lecture 2 (September 21): Parallax and the Scale of the Universe.
  • Homework 1 handed out.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 19.1, Box 19-1.

Week 2 (September 24-28) :

• Lecture 3 (September 24): Review: Flux and Luminosity. Surface Temperature and Colors of the Stars.
  • Homework 1 due.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Review Chapter 5, Sections 5.1 to 5.5. Boxes 5-1, 5-2.
    • Sections 19.2, 19.4. Box 19-2.

• Lecture 4 (September 26): Kirchhoff's Laws. The spectrum and the Composition of the Sun.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Chapter 5: Sections 5.6 to 5.8. Box 5-4 (5-5).
    • Sections 19.5, 19.6. Box 19-5 (19-4).

• Lecture 5 (September 28): Stellar Spectra. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 19.7, 19.8

Gravity and the Masses of Stars

Week 3 (October 1-5) :

• Lecture 6 (October 1): The Doppler Effect. Measuring Masses of Stars. The Mass-Luminosity Relationship for Main-Sequence Stars.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Review Section 4.4 (4.5), Box 4-2, Section 5.9.
    • Sections 19.9, 19.10, 19.11

• Lecture 7 (October 3): Extrasolar Planets.
  • Homework 2 handed out.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 7.7, 7.8, 7.9

The Lives of Stars

• Lecture 8 (October 5): How Stars Work (I): Nuclear Fusion.
  • Homework 2 due.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 18.6 (18.1), Box 18-2 (18-1).

Week 4 (October 8-12) :

• Lecture 9 (October 8): How Stars Work (II): Stellar Structure.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 18.7, 18.8, 18.9 (18.2, 18.3, 18.4)

• Lecture 10 (October 10): Stellar Evolution (I): Solar-like Stars, White Dwarfs.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 21.1, 21.2, 21.3. Box 21-2.
    • Sections 22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4

• Lecture 11 (October 12): Stellar Evolution (II): Massive Stars, Supernovae.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 22.5, 22.6, 22.7, 22.8, 22.9, 22.10

Week 5 (0ctober 15-19) :

• Lecture 12 (October 15): Review of Stellar Evolution. Cluster H-R Diagrams.
  • Homework 3 handed out.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Review reading for lectures 10 and 11

Galaxies

• Lecture 13 (October 17): The Milky Way Galaxy. Stellar Populations.
  • Homework 3 due.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 25.1, 25.2, 25.3

• Lecture 14 (October 19): The Interstellar Medium. Star Formation.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Chapter 20

Week 6 (October 22-26) :

• October 22: MIDTERM I EXAM , Lectures 1 to 12.

• Lecture 15 (October 24): Other Galaxies. Cepheid Stars as Distance Indicators.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 26.4

Relativity

• Lecture 16 (October 26): Special Relativity. Space-Time Diagrams.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 24.1, Box 24-1.

Week 7 (October 29 - November 2) :

• Lecture 17 (October 29): General Relativity.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 24.2

• Lecture 18 (October 31): Black Holes.
  • Homework 4 handed out.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 24.3, 24.4, 24.5. Box 24-3 (24-2).
    • Sections 27.1, 27.5.

Cosmology

• Lecture 19 (November 2): The Expansion of the Universe, Hubble's Law, and the Age of the Universe.
  • Homework 4 due.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 26.4, 26.5. Box 26-2.
    • Sections 28.1, 28.2, 28.3.

Week 8 (November 5-9) :

• Lecture 20 (November 5): The Big Bang Model of the Universe. The Open, Flat, and Closed Models.
  • PAPER DUE.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 28.6.

• Lecture 21 (November 7): The Scale Factor, the Cosmological Redshift, and the Space-Time Diagram of the Universe.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Review Sections 28.2, 28.3

• Lecture 22 (November 9): The Cosmic Microwave Background.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 28.4

Week 9 (November 12-16) :

• November 12: No class.

• Lecture 23 (November 14): Dark Matter.
  • Homework 5 handed out.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Section 25.4, Box 25-3 (25-2).
    • Sections 26.6, 26.7, 26.8

• Lecture 24 (November 16): The Formation of Galaxies and the Fluctuations in the Cosmic Background.
  • Homework 5 due.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 26.6, 26.7, 26.9
    • Sections 29.5

Week 10 (November 19-23) :

• Lecture 25 (November 19): Primordial Nucleosynthesis and the History of the Chemical Elements.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Sections 29.3, 29.4

• November 21: Review for Midterm II.

• November 23: No class.

Week 11 (November 26-30) :

• November 26: MIDTERM II EXAM , Lectures 13 to 23.

• Lecture 26 (November 28): The Cosmological Constant and the Accelerating Universe.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Box 28-3 (Sections 28-7, 28-8, 28-9).

• Lecture 27 (November 30): Life in the Universe.
  • Assigned Reading:
    • Chapter 30