How Stars Work

equilibrium, entirely gaseous
perfect gas law
hydrostatic equilibrium
thermal equilibrium

• Heat Transfer

  conduction
  convection
  radiation
  opacity

• Energy Sources

  gravitational collapse energy
  nuclear energy (fusion)
  E=mc²
  specific reactions

  P-P chain	H—>He
  CN cycle	10 million° K
  Helium burning	He—>C 100 million° K
  Carbon burning	C—>O, Mg, S 600 million° K
  last possible:	up to iron

How Stars Evolve

• Star Formation (Protostars)

  collapse to the main sequence
  limits to stellar masses

• Main sequence evolution
  
• Leaving the Main Sequence
  
• Helium Flash
  
• Post-Helium Flash
  
• Compare all this to Clusters
  
• Stellar Death
  

  white dwarfs
  neutron stars, supernovae, and pulsars
  black holes

The Galaxy

• Shape, size, and our location in it
  
• The sun's orbit in the Galaxy
  
• The Galaxy's mass
  
• The gas and dust between the stars
  
• Neutral hydrogen and the 21-cm line
  
• The spiral structure
  
• Stellar populations
  
• Star clusters
  

Galaxies

• Types of galaxies
• Spirals and barred spirals
• Ellipticals
• Irregulars
• The approximate ranges of masses, sizes, and luminosities of each type
• The stellar populations of each
• Clusters of galaxies
• Galaxies as radio sources
• Formation of galaxies

Cosmology

• Olber's Paradox
• Expansion of the universe and Hubble's Law
• The age of the universe
• General theory of relativity
• Cosmological principle
• Perfect cosmological principle
• Evolutionary and steady-state cosmologies
• How the universe ends (closed, open, flat)
• Observational tests

Old Fashion Astronomy

• Motions of the stars across the sky as seen from different latitudes
• Time
• Why different stars
• The seasons and why it gets dark early in winter
• The phases of the moon
• Rotation of the moon
• The calendar