8ASTROPHYSICS I (Physics 821)

& INTRODUCTION TO ASTROPHYSICS I (Physics 521)

Fall 2009 (Revised August 9)

 

Instructor:                             Dr. Michael L. Sitko

Office:                                    446 Geology-Physics

Hours:                                     MW @11-12, Th @ 1-12, 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.

 

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 single comprehensive final exam will also be given.  Whether this will be the normal in-class exam scheduled for 8-10 AM on Wed. Dec. 9 or a take-home exam due on that day is yet to be decided (as of Aug. 9).

 

Copies of the lecture notes (MS Word and/or PowerPoint slides) will be available for downloading from my web site for 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 Nov. 25, Nov. 20, Dec. 2 and Dec. 4, as I will be out of town. In order to accommodate the ÒmissingÓ classes, it will be necessary to have some makeup sessions prior to those dates, 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. Please include a schedule of the days/times that you CANNOT attend a makeup class session.  ALSO,  look at slide 2 of the 0-Introduction class notes and tell me if you see lower case Greek letter nu or some other weird symbol in the top equation. Microsoft recently changed the ÒcodeÓ for special symbols (and the single quote or apostrophe) and forced everyone else to accommodate.  Another reason many people hate that companyÉ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

(Very 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

Gas Ionization & Recombination

Sec. 5.2

 

Gas Heating & Cooling

 

5

Dust & Other Stuff

Sec. 5.3

 

Galaxies (Intro) The Milky Way

Ch. 6

6

The Local Group

 

 

Galaxy Evolution

 

7

Radiation Processes

 

 

Active Galaxies

 

8

Large-Scale Structure

Ch. 7

 

Cosmology

Ch. 8

9

Cosmology

Ch. 9

 

Dark Matter

 

10

The Early Universe

 

 

 

 

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