Galaxies & Cosmology winter
trimester
2010-2011
syllabus
&
course
expectations
safety,
tardy,
classroom computer use, and honesty
Universe/publisher link: register as a student to use the
resources
Astronomy
Picture
of the Day
the
latest
astrophysics discoveries
what's up in the sky
this
week
| Monday, January 31 |
February 1 |
February 2 |
February 3 |
February 4 |
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make sure
that
you have your WHITE
book |
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(always done before class) |
25(3, 4) the last two sections in the quasar section... bring questions! |
25(5)
again know how what we see depends on the view how does the spectrum that we get depend on the view |
the
GREEN handout on radio-quiet and radio-loud AGNs (plus, of course, your knowledge gained from reading chapter 25) 22(4) on gamma-ray bursts a Scientific American article on gamma-ray bursts (with better color pictures) |
the
beginning of the beginning: the Big Bang 26(3, 4) |
26(5) |
things you should know the answer to before coming to class |
have you a project? have you talked to me about it? write up a half-page or so description of what you intend to do and, most importantly, what observational data you need to have |
for the AGN model (write down some observations as a function of viewing angle) what observational features should we see as a function of the direction we look? for example.... one very obvious thing YOU need to explain is why we would see broad lines at one angle and narrow lines at a different angle (that's one observational feature that they gave you, although they left it up to you to explain why) for gamma-ray bursts (bring 2 columns of notes) what are the observational properties of the two types of gamma-ray bursts? what is out model for each type? how did we get from the observations to the models? |
left overs on gamma-ray bursts from yesterday (block D is very behind) new stuff? what are the 3 pieces of observational evidence that a Big Bang (common origin; hot dense epoch of the universe)? (we have actually talked about the three pieces throughout both trimesters!) how/why does each piece of evidence point to a Big Bang? |
when did the universe change from opaque to transparent? what caused the change? at what temperature (based on what we did last september) should this transition take place? why is the book trying to palm off a different temperature on us? since the universe is opaque at times earlier than this, can we see back before then? how? or why not? |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
1) use dimensional analysis to find the "classical" electron scattering radius (it's dependent on ke, e, c, and me).... follow the procedure you were instructed to earlier in the trimester (that not everyone did).... you will end up with 4 equations in 4 unknowns (w,x,y,z) and THEN solve the equations... (i.e., do not just announce the solution) 2) then substitute the numerical values of the constants to find the numerical value of re (make sure that it's reasonable) 3) then go back to the net force equation that we wrote in class and rewrite it and put in all constants to arrive at the eddington limit luminosity (which must be put in the form in the text) NOTE: you wont get the book's answer.... because there are two things i left out (block C knows about 1 and maybe even 2; block D knows about neither, so their answer will about 4000x smaller than the book's) |
coming attractions: prove that the universe's stars could not have possibly have converted anywhere near 28% of the universe's matter into helium during its entire lifetime. the galaxy's luminosity is 1037 W its mass is 4 x 1041 kg you know the efficiency of the H -> He reaction and you know the age of the universe |
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of the week |
Hubble finds the most distant galaxy ever seen |
Kepler
finds 1285
(possible)
extrasolar planets from the Kepler web site: Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun. |
Teenagers, Friends,
and Bad
Decisions |
| Monday, January 24 |
Tuesday, January 25 |
January 26 |
January 27 |
January 28 |
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you MUST have your WHITE Astrophysics book with you in class new seats! new table partners! |
you MUST have your WHITE Astrophysics book with you in class NO EXCEPTIONS TODAY....if you've lost yours, photocopy the last few pages of someone else!!!! |
you
MUST have your WHITE
Astrophysics
book with you in class jit due by 9 am today.... questions are a review of much of the early part of first trimester |
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(always done before class) |
end of 26(6) on dark-energy cosmologies, if you have a chance |
end of 26(6) on dark-energy cosmologie (if you didnt do it for yesterday's class) 26(7): choosing between different universes based upon the latest observations |
25(1) (although answers to JIT should be able to be done without any reading.... i still want you to read that section) |
25(2) breaking news.... see below |
25(5,6)
which includes the model explaining everything AND the
single equation
in this chapter AND details about the energy source block C: prepare for lockdown |
questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
now
that you have the 2 equations that describe
general-realtivity
cosmology, you can answer the following (some of which we have already done in class): a) where is the "line" describing all newtonian cosmologies? what does it mean to be above the line? below the line? where is a flat universe (still newtonian)? where is an empty universe? b) where is the line describing a flat (zero curvature) universe? what does it mean to be above the line? below the line? c) where is the line describing a zero acceleration universe? what does it mean to be above the line? below the line? |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
begin finding a final project |
the power-law dependence of L on velocity dispersion (using data we collected in class last friday) |
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|
of the week |
To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test |
does college
make
you smarter? (why students learn so little in their first year) |
oldest
galaxy
found z = 10 ?! (again? didnt this just happen last week?) |
| Monday, January 17 |
Tuesday, January 18 |
January 19 |
January 20 |
January 21 |
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a question whose answer EVERYONE can bring to class today: write the equation that relates the observed redshift of an object to its age (after the bang) at the time it emitted the light that is just now reaching us (for FLAT universes only, alas).... the equation will have only z (redshift) and t (age) plus numbers |
bring
computers to class; we are using ds9 for a lab JIT on supermassive black holes due by midnight wednesday... the JIT has 4 questions; you MUST do the FIRST TWO, and ONE of the last two |
extended
weekend faculty have classes |
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(always done before class) |
from
the AAS meeting: most distant galaxy cluster identified possible missing link between young and old galaxies? the largest galaxy clusters and the most frigid objects in the universe what is the time of the earliest star formation (after the bang) mentioned in any of these articles? do galaxies exist at these times? which theory of galaxy formation (ELS or SZ) do these discoveries provide support for? how specifically? |
from
the AAS meeting: surprise: dwarf galaxy harbors SMBH Hole's on First?: black hole formation precedes galaxy formation see Galaxy - Black Hole connection article in moodle |
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questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
see questions in this color above about the articles review very carefully what we did last Friday! make sure that your r-vs-t graph (which applies to any SC of galaxies) is well-labeled for the two kinds of universes we can write the r(t) equation (that would be flat and empty) and make sure that you know where closed and open universes (which can have various r(t) curves, depending on what?) curves lie |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
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video
of stars' motion around Milky
Way's SMBH video of how the Milky Way shredded the Canis Major dwarf |
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discover-everything-you-can about galaxies due by 9 pm |
galaxy classification lab: GEARS multi-wavelength galaxy images (server in georgia) selected multi-wavelength galaxy images (server at duke) HI observations uv observations dust observations |
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|
of the week |
when was the last time you read an opinion column on the state of the universe? |
America cedes
leadership in
particle physics with unexpected shutdown
of
Fermilab Tevatron just what you always wanted?: classes with no teachers |
| Monday, January 10 |
Tuesday, January 11 |
January 12 |
January 13 |
January 14 |
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due
to snow cancellation, all jits need to be re-done by 5 pm.... see email i sent you early this morning for guidance on minimum expectations also, the list of shows-and-tells is taped to my door.... i actually think are mistakes, some please come personally and check today (because grades are due tomorrow) |
bring
lab book and your computer.... we do a new lab on galaxy collisions |
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(always done before class) |
now
that we can see back (with Hubble) to hundreds of millions
of years
after the Big Bang, how do galaxies then look different
than galaxies
now? is the ELS theory still viable?: 24(9) what is the role of environment?: 24(7) a one-day's lecture from the University of Washington from a junior-level course on galaxies and cosmology: can you fill in the missing blanks? |
for the jit, two hubble links: from 1994 from 2010 (although the complete HDF-HUDF link set is here) |
26(6) |
23(6)
[especially block D which is likely to have a
show-and-tell on it....
maybe block C will, too] also, I believe i have now assigned ALL of chapter 24: have you read all the parts? |
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questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
questions
for block D (who is still a bit behind block C): a) where are the remnants of the first generation of stars (the Population III one, with absolutely no metals)? i.e., what stellar evolution phases are they now in and shouldnt we see at least some of them? b) what things in the galaxy did NOT collapse to a disk in the first few billion years of the galaxy's history? and why didnt they? (i.e., what 3 different "objects" in our galaxy are still in a spherical, halo-like distribution?) for both blocks C and D: who won the Shapley-Curtis debate? why? on what observational data did each side try to base their arguments? do we have evidence that one galaxy type (E or S) evolves into the other type? if so, what? for block C: the elliptical galaxies as a group have a big range in properties..... what would a graph of number of E's as a function of mass look like? and how would we get such data? |
environmental effects on galaxies the first generation of stars: where are they now? quantitative galaxy evolution with time |
what are the different kinds of universes, and what are their properties ( the book gives you 3 distinctly different properties about each universe)? |
I believe we now have directly correlated density with destiny (because of what we did in class yesterday), for Newtonion cosmologies.... section 26(6) -- particularly the table at the bottom of page 706 -- leads us to believe that each is correlated with geometry.... but we have yet to prove that section 26(6) includes both newtonian cosmologies and dark-energy (non-newtonian) cosmologies.... please separate them (and their behaviors and consequences) in your mind |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
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.... and in other news .... block D might know why this might be relevant.... block C doesnt big changes ahead in AP Bio and History exams |
after reading 24(1-2): transcript of the Shapley-Curtis debate "color commentary" on the Shapley-Curtis debate ongoing galactic cannibalism: the Canis Major dwarf the Sagittarius dwarf |
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i
will likely be at school sunday afternoon if you want to
get more work
done on your "galaxy discovery" lab.... and why am in not
likely to
give you more time in class????? |
on
galaxy
collisions, cannibalism, mergers, and acquisitions: GalCrash Galaxy Zoo Merger |
galaxies
discovery lab due monday: you have had enough thought and
data
collection time for this to be your most outstanding
effort of the year |
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|
of the week |
prepare for a huge week of astronomical discovery announcements.....it starts today.... why? new subatomic particle could help explain the mystery of dark matter plasma jets pump #?$% into sun's corona this just in: Pope Benedict XVI: "the universe is no fluke" so if 10-year-old canadians can discover a supernova, (and the 254th discovered by amateurs last year) why hasn't anyone in our class? do SN discoveries decrease or increase around holiday times? |
NASA announces "first rocky planet" Planck announces a previously undiscovered population of galaxies 12 billion years in the past |
surprise: dwarf
galaxy
harbors SMBH most distant galaxy cluster identified possiblemissing link between young and old galaxies? punystars pack big punch |
why
don't exoplanets
match
astronomers expectations? dispatches from
the American
Astronomical Society meeting the largest galaxy clusters and the most frigid objects in the universe Chandra observes torrent of star formation in starburst galaxy M82 new rocky planet: small but tough in deep galaxy survey, Hubble astronomers get a boost from gravity Hole's on First?: black hole formation precedes galaxy formation space oddity discovered in Galaxy Zoo activity by high school teacher |
| Monday, January 3 |
Tuesday, January 4 |
January 5 |
January 6 |
January 7 |
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(always done before class) |
have
you finished reading all of the black hole chapter? 22(6, 7, and 8) section 22(9) is unbridled speculation and box 22(3) is just silly |
the
start of galaxies: the big question is whether the type of galaxy (spiral, elliptical, other) is determined by nature (i.e., genes) nurture (i.e., envrionment) or evolution (i.e., age) it will take us a while to answer that question fully, as it did for us to answer that same question about stars... but keep that big question in your mind as you read over the coming week believe it or not, i have already assigned 23(1,2,3, and 4) previously in the course(s).... but what is the change that you remember any of this? so re-read (review?) these sections with a particular eye toward "what was the galaxy like when it was young"? (knowing this will help answer the big question above) in particular, what properties do the oldest stars have in comparison to the youngest stars? you should know three very different properties of these two populations (old vs. young) in OUR galaxy after doing the reading! yes, that means bring a list of these property differences to class! |
block
C: is reading section 24((3) [and also sections 24((1,2) very quickly because these give a nice historical context] about galaxies, in particular spirals and ellipticals to see if we can learn anything about them that would shine a light on galactic evolution, particularly in regards to our (the ELS) model of galactic formation that explained the 4 "fossil" properties that we (actually you) listed in class yesterday block D is doing what block C did yesterday because yesterday they spent the entire class of daniel's show and tell BUT block D might want to be reading ahead (i.e., see the sections above) and kill 2 birds with one stone today |
block
D is still is a day behind (which is ok.... they know more
about
the Gem of General Relativity) but it would be great if
they could
catch up to where block C is in galaxies: section 24(3) [and also sections 24(1,2) (see yesterday) |
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questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
review the effects near compact masses that we have already talked about (and how we "discovered" them): bending of space; slowing of time; redshift of escaping light table-top relativity experiments |
mostly for block D, because block C learned most of this in a show/tell: how are gravitational waves produced? detected? (hint: how are light waves -- electromagnetic waves produced and detected? |
blocks C and D were each supposed to think about something from yesterday's class for today... presumably you remember what it was |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
block D, bring to class: calculate how close you would have to be to a the schwarzschild radius of a black hole (i.e., robs/rs) in order to watch the entire evolution of a sun-like star over lunch |
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how
does it look too close to a black hole? virtual trips to black holes and neutron stars evidence for a spinning black hole |
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory your tax dollars at work what a gravitational wave does to a mass |
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of the week |
first test of possible other
universes? new year's crab nebula gamma-ray outbursts shock astronomers new white-dwarf binary pairs found: future type Ia supernovas? numbers of stars in the universe goes up by 3x? |
cost overruns and mismanagement doom Dark Energy Telescope? |
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