Syllabus: An introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics for students with a background in Physics.
Downloadable Lecture Materials. |
||
Lecture 1 |
Pre-Course Quiz | |
| Lecture 2 | Angular Resolution & Seeing | |
| Lecture 3 | Astronomical Detectors | |
| Lecure 4 | Wien's Law and Stefan's Law |
|
| Lecture 5 | Plank's blackbody radiation law | Maoz Ch2 |
| Exercise/Quiz | Sirius A & B: Application of our learning so far Discovery of stellar properties |
|
| Lecture 6 | Distances in Stellar Astronomy, Parallax, Magnitude, Spectral Types introduced | |
| HW 3 Assignment | Astronomical Spectra in digital table form (ascii) The 2 columns are: Wavelength (nm), Flux |
Answers |
| Physical Properties of Stars. HR Diagram, Spectral Types | Maoz Ch2 | |
| Lecture 8 | Physical Properties of Stars from Spectral Line Width | C&O Ch9 |
| Rotational broadening, Velocity profiles, Metallicity, Forbidden Lines | C&O Ch9 | |
| Lecture 10 | Binary Stars. Orbital Period, Kepler's Law, Radial velocity, Eclipsing and Spectroscopic Binaries, Mass Function, Homework Assignment. | Maoz Ch2, R&P Ch13 |
| Hydrostatic Equilibrium, Stellar Pressures | Maoz Ch3 C&O Ch 10 |
|
| Kelvin Helmholtz Timescale | C&O Ch10 | |
| Stellar Internal Temperatures | Maoz Ch3 | |
| Proton-Proton Chain | Maoz Ch3 R&P Ch 15 |
|
| Physical conditions needed for P-P chain, Nuclear Reaction Rates, Convection | Maoz Ch3 R&P Ch15 |
|
| Study Guide | For Midterm Exam | |
| Slides | Stellar Physics | Maoz Ch3 |
| Slides | Historical attempts to measure the age of the Earth and Sun | |
| Slides | Supernovae to Stellar Relics | Maoz Ch 4 |
| Slides | Cosmic Distances, Galaxies to the Big Bang | Ch 6,7,8,9 |
| Study Guide | Complete List of Topics for Final | |
Homeworks, Assignments, Quizzes |
||
| Precourse Quiz / Questionnaire | ||
| HW1 | Maoz Ch1, P 1,2 | |
| HW2 | Maoz Ch2, P1,2 | |
| Q1 / Assignment | The Sirius A-B System | |
| HW /Assignment | Analyze a real stellar spectrum. Identify spectral lines, estimate temperature, determine the spectral type (OBAFGKM), suggest a luminosity class if possible. Each student gets an different dataset to plot and analyze. |
|
| Quiz 3 | Draw the HR diagram, solve problems using spectral line parameters | |
| HW4 | Maoz Ch2, P4,5 | |
| HW5 | 1. Use equation of Hydrostatic equilibrium to calculate the pressure at the center of the Sun. (Assume constant density) 2A. Derive the Kelvin Helmholtz Timescale, (i.e. the lifetime of the sun if all its energy has come form gravitational contraction) 2B. Calculate the annual rate of contraction to power present day luminosity. 2C. Estimate the chemical energy lifetime for the sun (e.g. if it were powered by burning something) |
|
| Quiz 4 | Plot the evolutionary tracks of stars after they leave the main sequence | Solution |
| Assignment | A Massive Star + Black-Hole Binary system. Find absolute magnitude, distance modulus, Luminosity, Mass function, Masses, Sizes. Using Radial velocity curve, X-ray Eclipse lightcurve and Optical photometry. Available Table of stellar properties across spectral types. |
|
| Midterm Exam | Solutions | |
| HW6 | 1. Calculate the rate of conversion of H -> He in the Sun (kg/second) and express this as Msun/yr 2A. How long can a star of mass 100Msun, luminosity 10^6 Lsun keep shining before all the H is used up? (assume the PP chain only) 2B. Repeat the above calculation for a dwarf star of mass 0.5 Msun, L=0.1Lsun 3. How long could the Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction power a Brown Dwarf star? 4. Derive an expression, and a numerical estimate, for the maximum possible mass of a star, using Maoz Ch3 Q3 as a guide. 5. Explain how the fusion reactions in the Sun's core are regulated. |
Solutions |
| Quiz | Derive the Schwartzchild Radius for a black hole, by finding the event horizon along semi-classical lines. Compute values for a steller BH (one produced by the collapse of a single massive star) and a supermassive black hole (SMBH), as found in the center of galaxies. | |
| HW 7 | Maoz Chapter 4: Q3, Q4c, Q7a,b, Q9 | |
| Quiz | Solution | |
| HW 8 | Maoz Ch5, Problem 3 (all parts a-e) | Solution |