ASTROPHYSICS
fall trimester 2011
SYLLABUS

                                                                                                                                   

MAJOR TOPIC

SUBJECTS

      MAJOR LABS     

CHAPTER (SECTION)

 

 

Universe 9th edition

Physics 3rd ed

 

 

  

Freedman & Kaufmann

Walker.

 

 

 

 

CCD IMAGES


light collectors and detectors; making images

 Introduction to Image Processing
(linear and log scaling, measuring angular sizes, distances, interpreting FITS headers, identifying spectral lines)

6(4)
+
other sections of 6

27(5)

 

 

 

 

SPECTROSCOPY

light: particle or wave?

spectra: Kirchhoff's laws

5(1, 2, 5)
5(6)

25(1-3), 28(1-2)

 

continuous spectra: 

blackbody laws: stellar temperature, color, and luminosity

 Spectra of Light Sources
(Kirchhoff's laws, identifying composition of gas discharge tubes and lines in the solar spectrum; color filters, computer screens, and fluorescent lights)

 

5(3, 4)

Box 5(2)

 

30(1)

 

blackbody laws: stellar radii

Box 17(4)

 

PLANETARY

PROPERTIES

blackbody laws:

planetary temperatures

 why didn't the blackbody laws predict the correct
temperatures of the planets?

9, 10  &  11-15

 

 

planets: terrestrial vs. Jovian

7(1-4)

 

 

solar system: formation of planets

8(1-6)

 

 

solar system: evolution of planets

 Measuring the Luminosity, Radius,
and Temperature of the Sun
(using only a meter stick, a 200-W light bulb, a cardboard tube, aluminum foil, and two pieces of wax)

7(6-8)

 

STELLAR            PROPERTIES

stars: parallax and distance

stars: magnitude and brightness

19(1); Box 19(1)

19(2-4); Boxes 19(2,3)

 

 


line spectra: atomic structure

 Parallax: Measuring the Distance to an Asteroid
(image processing: using two images -- taken simultaneously -- of an asteroid from different observatories to determine the distance)


5(7-8); 17(5)


31(1-3)

 

stars: color, temperature, spectral class, & the H-R diagram

Box 7(2), 17(4-8)       

14(3)

 

Doppler effect:

 Measuring the Doppler Effect with the Doppler Applet

5(9)

25(2); 14(6)

 

Hubble's law &
the expansion of the universe

24(5)
[what's a galaxy?:
 23(1-4) & 24(1-4)]

32(7)

 

binary stars: orbits; Kepler's laws

[4(1-3)] 4(4-7)

12(1-3)

 

binary stars: spectroscopic &

eclipsing

extrasolar planets

 RW Mon: Determining the Luminosity, Radius, Temperature, and Mass of the Stars in a Double-line Spectroscopic, Eclipsing Binary

17(9-11)


8(7)

 

 

galactic rotation curves 

and dark matter

23(4), Box 23(2), 24(8)

 

 

line broadening

 

 

STELLAR

STRUCTURE

how stars work:
energy generation;

sources of pressure;

energy transfer

 

16(1-4), 19(1); Box 161-2)

 

 

32(1, 4-6), 32(8);

15(1-4), 17(1-2);

16(6)

 

 

the solar neutrino problem

16(4)


 

stellar atmospheres: the quiet sun

16(3, 5-7)

 

 

the active sun: 

sunspots and magnetic fields

16(8-10)

 

22(1-3)

STELLAR 

EVOLUTION

stellar birth in interstellar space: protostars and

pre-main-sequence stars

 Interstellar Matter:
Properties of Planetary Nebulae, Dark Nebulae, Emission Nebulae, and Supernova Remnants
(using the Palomar Prints)

18

 

 

stellar maturity (main sequence) 

and old age (red giant)

19


20(1-2)

 

 

death of low-mass stars: 

white dwarfs and planetary nebulae


20(3-4)