ASTRONOMY 421
Concepts of Astrophysics I

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Astronomy 421 (Fall 2008) 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:	Tiffany Hayes, email thayes77@unm.edu
Time and place:	Tu/Th 11:00 AM-12:15 PM Room 5, Physics & Astronomy Building
Textbook:	An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, B.W. Carroll & D.A. Ostlie, 2nd Edition.
Office hours:	Tu/Th 12:15 PM-1:15 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 astronmy 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 11/30/08

Date	Topic	Chapter
Tu Aug 26	Course introduction, Mechanics I	2
Th Aug 28	Mechanics	2
Tu Sep 2	Mechanics	2
Th Sep 4	Radiation and matter	3
Tu Sep 9	Radiation and matter	5
Th Sep 11	Special relativity Term paper topics due	4
Tu Sep 16	Special relativity	4
Th Sep 18	Centennial Library
Tu Sep 23	Exam 1	2,3,4,5
Th Sep 25	Binary Stars	7
Tu Sep 30	Stellar classification, Saha equation	8
Th Oct 2	Spectral classification, HR diagrams	8
Tu Oct 7	Stellar atmospheres: radiation field, radiation pressure	9
Th Oct 9	Opacity, cross sections	9
Tu Oct 14	Diffusion, random walks and optical depth Term paper outlines due.	9
Th Oct 16	Fall break
Tu Oct 21	Stellar interiors: mass conservation, energy transport	10
Th Oct 23	Recap for exam	10
Tu Oct 28	Exam 2
Th Oct 30	Recap ch 10m nuclear energy, fusion processes	10
Tu Nov 4	Fusion processes, Stellar births	10, 12.2-3
Th Nov 6	Jeans criterion, Eddington limits	12.2-3, 13
Tu Nov 11	Stellar evolution: low mass stars	13
Th Nov 13	End states of stars: Supernovae, Gamma ray bursts	15
Tu Nov 18	Stellar remnants: white dwarfs	16
Th Nov 20	Stellar remnants: neutron stars	16
Tu Nov 25	Exam 3	10, 12, 13, 15, 16
Th Nov 27	Thanksgiving Holiday
Tu Dec 2	Stellar remnants: black holes	17
Th Dec 4	Term paper presentations Term papers due	Stefanie and Raf
Tu Dec 9	Term paper presentations	Cary and Bahram
Th Dec 11	Term paper presentations	Anthony and Dave