ASTRONOMY 271                                                                                                        Spring 2008

Astronomy 271 (and 270) is designed for people who want to learn about the Universe in more depth than is possible in Astro 101. While the fall 270 class concentrated on the Solar system, in the spring semester we will significantly broaden our perspective to include stars, galaxies and the Universe. This course will describe the hierarchical nature of the Universe starting with stars and working up through star clusters, galaxies, clusters of galaxies and superclusters. Black holes, dark matter, dark energy, the ever-expanding Universe, astrobiology and other fascinating astronomical topics will also be explored.


Time and place: TR 11:00AM-12:15PM, Regener Hall 114
Instructor: Prof. Y. Pihlström, phone 277-4492
Textbook: Universe, Freedman and Kaufmann, 8th Edition. Additional material will be handed out during lectures.
Office hours: Tuesdays 1:00PM-2:00PM in room 170, Physics and Astronomy building. Other times by appointment.
Prerequisites: Physics 151 or higher; Math 150 or 162
Exams and Grades: Your final grade will be determined through two sectional exams (each 25% of the grade), homework (20%) and the final exam (30%). The exam dates are February 26 and April 1 for the mid-terms, and May 13 (12:30PM-2:30PM) for the final. In general, make-up exams will NOT be given unless you have a very valid reason, and make-ups will be oral. NO make-ups will be given unless arranged before the exam.

Lecture schedule - updated 4/12/08
Date Topic Chapter
T Jan 22 Introduction  
R Jan 24 Angles & units; Celestial coordinates; properties of light 1.1; 2.4 (Box 2.1); 5.1-5.6
T Jan 29 Blackbody radiation, interaction light and matter 5.3-5.7
R Jan 31 Spectral line radiation, Doppler shift 5.7-5.9
Sun Feb 3 Field trip to the VLA Trip info
T Feb 5 Introduction to solar physics 16.1-16.4
R Feb 7 Guest lecture: Nick Arge (AFRL), Solar physics 16.4-16.10
T Feb 12 Stars: measurable properties. Homework 1 due. 17.1-17.4
R Feb 14 Stars: spectral types and the H-R diagram 17.5-17.11
T Feb 19 The ISM, and the formation of stars. Homework 2 due. 18.1-18.3 plus lecture notes
R Feb 21 Star formation 18.4-18.8
T Feb 26 Exam 1 1, 5, 16-18
R Feb 28 Stellar evolution part I 19.1-19.5
T Mar 4 Recap of exam 1, Stellar evolution part II. 19.5
R Mar 6 The deaths of low-mass stars. Homework 3 due. 20.1-20.4
T Mar 11 The deaths of high-mass stars. 20.5-20.10
R Mar 13 Neutron stars. Homework 4 due. 21
T Mar 18 SPRING BREAK  
R Mar 20 SPRING BREAK  
T Mar 25 Black holes. 22
R Mar 27 Recap for exam. Homework 5 due. 19-22
T Apr 1 Exam 2 19-22
R Apr 3 Black holes: movie 22
T Apr 8 The Milky Way 23
R Apr 10 Galaxies. Homework 6 due. 24
T Apr 15 Galaxies, radio astronomy. 24
R Apr 17 Active Galaxies. Homework 7 due. 25
T Apr 22 Cosmology 26
R Apr 24 Cosmology. Homework 8 due. 26
T Apr 29 Big Bang 27
R May 1 Astrobiology 28
T May 6 Astrobiology 28
R May 8 No class, office hours  
T May 13 Final exam 12:30-2:30PM 1, 5, 16-28
R May 15 Exam pick up (PandA rm 170) 10:00AM-12:00PM