ASTRONOMY 421
Concepts of Astrophysics I

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Astronomy 421 (Fall 2009) is intended for advanced (senior level) undergraduates, and is also counted as an elective for graduate students. This course covers stellar structure and evolution, and we will discuss details of the physics of self-gravitating objects - stars, binary stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. To form the foundation for understanding stellar physics we will use concepts from classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and relativity.

Instructor:	Prof. Y. Pihlström, phone 7-4492
TA:	TBD
Time and place:	Tu/Th 9:30 AM-10:45 PM Room 5, Physics & Astronomy Building
Textbook:	An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, B.W. Carroll & D.A. Ostlie, 2nd Edition.
Office hours:	Tu/Th 10:45 PM-11:45 PM Room 170, Physics and Astronomy building. Other times by appointment.
Prerequisites:	Physics 330 or 491,492 or their equivalent. We will frequently use calculus, vectors, integrals and differential equations.
Exams and Grades:	Your final grade will be determined through three sectional exams (each 20% of the grade), six sets of homework (20%) and a term paper (20%). There will be no final exam.

Some useful links:

Science Daily's website for astronomy news
Science Daily

Search engines for articles
ADS database
Astro-ph

Examples of review articles
Worrall - The Gaseous Environments of Radio Galaxies
Combes - H2 in Galaxies

Example of Term Paper Outline
Example. The outline will of course be different depending on your topic, but by writing an outline we will be able to make sure that you work on the relevant parts from the beginning.

Lecture schedule - updated 10/13/09

Date	Topic	Chapter
Tu Aug 25	Course introduction, Mechanics I	2
Th Aug 27	Mechanics	2
Tu Sep 1	Mechanics	2
Th Sep 3	Radiation and matter	3
Tu Sep 8	Radiation and matter	5
Th Sep 10	Special relativity Term paper topics due	4, HW1 due
Tu Sep 15	Centennial Library w/ Donna Cromer	Room 253
Th Sep 17	Special Relativity	4, HW2 due
Tu Sep 22	Binary Stars	7
Th Sep 24	Exam 1	2,3,4,5
Tu Sep 29	Binary stars II, Boltzmann's and Saha's equations	7, 8
Th Oct 1	Stellar and spectral classification, HR diagrams	8
Tu Oct 6	Stellar atmospheres: radiation field, radiation pressure	9
Th Oct 8	Radiation field properties, radiation pressure	9, HW3 due
Tu Oct 13	Radiative transfer optical depth Term paper outlines due.	9
Th Oct 15	Fall break
Tu Oct 20	Diffusion, random walk and line broadening	9
Th Oct 22	Stellar interiors: mass conservation, energy transport	10, HW4 due
Tu Oct 27	Fusion processes	10
Th Oct 29	Exam 2	7,8,9,10
Tu Nov 3	Stellar births	12.2-3
Th Nov 5	Jeans criterion, Eddington limits	12.2-3, 13
Tu Nov 10	Stellar evolution: low mass stars	13
Th Nov 12	End states of stars: Supernovae, Gamma ray bursts	15, HW5 due
Tu Nov 17	Stellar remnants: white dwarfs	16
Th Nov 19	Stellar remnants: neutron stars	16, HW6 due
Tu Nov 24	Stellar remnants: black holes	17
Th Nov 26	Thanksgiving Holiday
Tu Dec 1	Exam 3	10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17
Th Dec 3	Term paper presentations Term papers due
Tu Dec 8	Term paper presentations
Th Dec 10	Term paper presentations