| Course Outline & Lecture Notes |
| Week 1 | |||
| Sep 8 | PS I
available pdf, links |
Course Overview html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Syllabus; topics; basic astronomical units. CO, S3.1, 3.2. |
| Sep 10 | Gravity I html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Kepler's laws (for 1-body); energy & angular momentum. CO, S1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2. |
|
| Sep 12 | Tutorial | Seasons; distances to Moon, Sun & nearest stars; parallax. CO, S1.3 [daily & seasonal changes part], 3.1. |
|
| Week 2 | |||
| Sep 15 | Gravity II html, pdf1, pdf4, links |
Generalized Kepler's laws for 2-body (binary stars); N-body. CO, S2.3 |
|
| Sep 17 | Gravity III html, pdf1, pdf4 (Includes notes on Taylor series; also see Wikipedia) |
tides; tidal friction; synchronization & circularization. CO, S19.2, 18.1 (up to "classes of binary systems"). Also, a nice review on the Earth-Moon system. |
|
| Sep 19 | PS I due | Tutorial |
Detecting extra-solar planets (applying Kepler's laws). CO, S7.4, 23.1 |
| Week 3 | |||
| Sep 22 | PS II available | Astrophysics I. Hydrostatic Equilibrium html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Gravity of spherical body; dynamical collapse; hydrostatic equilibrium; pressure; ideal gas; mean molecular weight. CO, S10.1, 10.2 |
| Sep 24 | Astrophysics II. Virial Theorem html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Gravitational, thermal, kinetic energy; virial theorem; application to Sun; gravito-thermal collapse, negative specific heat. CO, S2.4, 10.3 (up to nuclear) |
|
| Sep 26 | Tutorial | Extra-solar planets transits, direct detection); discussion of PS I | |
| Week 4 | |||
| Sep 29 | Astrophysics III. Nuclear Fusion html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Binding energy of nucleus; quantum tunneling; nuclear fusion; stability of the Sun CO, S5.4 (up to p. 132, QM atom), 10.3 |
|
| Oct 1 | Astrophysics IV. Radiation html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Photons; mean free path, random walk, photon diffusion time; blackbody; photosphere of the Sun. CO, S3.3, 3.4, 5.2, 9.3 |
|
| Oct 3 | PS II due | Tutorial | Life of a globular cluster (applying the virial theorem) |
| Week 5 | |||
| Oct 6 | PS III available | Astrophysics V. Photon-Matter Interaction html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Hydrogen model atom; electronic transitions; stellar spectra; optical depth, radiative transfer equation. CO, S3.5, Ch.5, S8.1 (parts), 10.4 (up to pressure scale height) |
| Oct 8 | Presentation choices can be made |
Stars I. Main Sequence html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Basic equations of stellar structure; mass-radius-luminosity relation; life times of stars on main-sequence; colour-magnitude diagram; spectral types, UBV photometry. CO, S10.5 (up to Num. model.), 10.6, Ch. 7, S3.6, 8.2 |
| Oct 10 | Tutorial | High velocity stars (binary break-up by black hole or tidal disruption of dwarf galaxy (movie from GRAVITAS) | |
| Week 6 | |||
| Oct 13 | Thanksgiving | No class | |
| Oct 15 | Stars II. Post Main Sequence html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Evolution of low mass stars after core-hydrogen exhaustion. CO, S13.1, 13.2 |
|
| Oct 17 | PS III due | Tutorial | Forming clumps in disks (Kaitlin Kratter) |
| Week 7 | |||
| Oct 20 | Presentation choices due |
Stars III. Post Main Sequence (cont'd) above + degeneracy html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Evolution of high mass stars after core-hydrogen exhaustion. CO, S15.1, 15.2, 16.3 |
| Oct 22 | Stars IV. Summary & Tests html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Summary of the lifes of
stars; using clusters to check our understanding CO, Fig. 13.1, S13.3 |
|
| Oct 24 | Pre-Midterm Summary html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Including Q&A on the 2006 and 2007 midterms. | |
| Week 8 | |||
| Oct 27 | Midterm Exam (in class) |
||
| Oct 29 | Stellar Corpses html, pdf1, pdf4 |
End products of stellar
evolution; white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; degeneracy; ultra-dense matter. CO, S16.1-16.4, S16.6, 16.7, Ch. 17 (basics only, like Schwarzschild radius) |
|
| Oct 31 | Star Formation html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Jeans mass, observations, disk formation, binary formation. CO, Ch. 12 (broad picture only for parts not dealt with in lecture notes) |
|
| Week 9 | |||
| Nov 3 | PS IV available | Solar System Overview html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Inventory, orbital characteristics, spin, roundness; definition of a planet; mass-radius relation; heating by the Sun. CO, S19.1, 19.3 (temperatures only) |
| Nov 5 | Giant Planets html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Mass-radius relation; composition; cores; internal heat. CO, S21.1 |
|
| Nov 7 | Planet Atmospheres html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Earth's atmosphere and its origin; colors of clouds & skies on different planets; divergent evolution between Earth & Venus CO, S19.3, parts of Ch. 20, 21. |
|
| Week 10 | |||
| Nov 10 | Terrestial Planets html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Interiors; vulcanism; plate tectonics; tectonics and climate; snow-ball Earth. CO, Ch. 20 |
|
| Nov 12 | Student presentations | Sun & Stars I | |
| Nov 14 | PS IV due | Student presentations | Sun & Stars II |
| Week 11 | |||
| Nov 17 | PS V available | Planet Formation html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Minimum mass solar nebula;
stability criterion; ice line, planetestimal formation; giant
planet & terrestrial planet formation; isotope dating
results; formation of the Moon; open issues. CO, S23.2, S22.4 (first few pages), S20.4 |
| Nov 19 | Student presentations | Recent space missions | |
| Nov 21 | Student presentations | Giant planets | |
| Week 12 | |||
| Nov 24 | Extrasolar Planets html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Hot jupiters, statistics; proto-planetary nebulae, debris disks. CO, Ch. 23 |
|
| Nov 26 | Student presentations | Terrestrial Planets I | |
| Nov 28 | PS V due | Student presentations | Terrestrial Planets II |
| Week 13 | |||
| Dec 1 | Vote
for best presentation; Course evaluation |
Exoplanets (cont'd) html, pdf1, pdf4 |
Puzzles, possible solutions; migration CO, Ch. 23 |
| Dec 3 | Telescopes & Something extra html, pdf1, pdf4 |
diffraction limit; seeing and atmospheric turbulence; radio telescopes and interferometry; X-ray & gamma-ray telescopes. CO, Ch. 6 |
|
| Dec 5 | Final review | question & answer | |