8ASTROPHYSICS I (Physics 821)

& INTRODUCTION TO ASTROPHYSICS I (Physics 521)

Fall 2007 (Revised September18)

 

Instructor:                            Dr. Michael L. Sitko

Office:                                    446 Geology-Physics

Hours:                                     M@10-11, W @ Noon-1, or by appointment

Phone:                                    556-0642                                               Email: sitkoml at ucmail.uc.edu

Class Notes:                       http://www.physics.uc.edu/~sitko/home.html

 

 

This course is designed to provide a basic foundation in the very broad field of astrophysics. We will spend the first 5 weeks examining the observed properties of stars and the physics of the interstellar medium. After that, we will look at the nature of galaxies, including our own Milky Way Galaxy, the formation and evolution of these galaxies, active galaxies, the large-scale structure of the universe, cosmology, and the early universe.

 

There are few good books for a complete survey of astrophysics for a 1-quarter class. So far, Astrophysics in a Nutshell by Dan Maoz comes closest. This will be the first time using this book.

 

Homework problems based on the lectures and the readings will be due 1 week after they are assigned. Graduate students will receive a few ÒextraÓ problems to do compared to the undergraduates. A comprehensive final exam will also be given. Most likely this will be of the Òtake-homeÓ variety that will be due at Noon Wed. November 28. Grades will be determined by the cumulative sum of all homework sets and the final exam.

 

Copies of the lecture notes (MS Word and/or PowerPoint slides) will be available for downloading from my web site (hopefully before) each lecture.

 

I can almost always be reached via email at the above email address or  at  amazons at fuse.net.

 

There will be no class on Oct 8 & 10, and a guest lecturer on Oct 12. Also no class on Fri. Nov. 30. In order to accommodate the ÒmissingÓ classes, it will probably be necessary to have a couple makeup sessions, at times that everyone can make.

 

I want each of you to send me an email from the account you use regularly. If you use more than one account, list the other accounts, so that I may send you notices, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

(Approximate)

 

Week

Subjects

Readings from Maoz

 

 

 

1

Stellar Brightnesses & Masses

Ch. 1 & 2

 

 

 

2

Stellar Spectra & Photometry

 

 

 

 

3

Stellar Structure & Evolution

Sec. 5.1 Ch 3 & 4

 

Introduction to the ISM

 

4

Near-Infrared Methods for Finding

 

 

Young Massive Star Clusters (Friday)

 

5

Gas Ionization & Recombination

Sec. 5.2

 

Gas Heating & Cooling

 

6

Dust & Other Stuff

Sec. 5.3

 

Galaxies (Intro) The Milky Way

Ch. 6

7

The Local Group

 

 

Galaxy Evolution

 

8

Radiation Processes

 

 

Active Galaxies

 

9

Large-Scale Structure

Ch. 7

 

Cosmology

Ch. 8

10

Cosmology

Ch. 9

 

Dark Matter

 

11

The Early Universe