Instructor's Notes

  1. Introductory Remarks & Positional Astronomy [pdf]
    1. The Celestial Sphere and the Horizon Coordinate System
    2. The Equatorial Coordinate System
    3. The Ecliptic System and Annual Motion of the Sun [pdf]
    4. Conversion of Coordinates
    5. Precession, Aberration, and Refraction [pdf]
    6. Parallax and Stellar Distances
  2. Properties of Electromagnetic Radiation [pdf]
    1. Light as Waves and as Photons
    2. Basic Quantities of Radiation [pdf]
    3. Blackbody Radiation [pdf]
  3. Photometry: Measuring Stellar Brightness [pdf]
    1. Luminosity, Distance, and Flux
    2. The Magnitude Scale
    3. Absolute Magnitude and the Distance Modulus Law
    4. Photometric Bands and Colors [pdf]
    5. Bolometric Corrections
  4. Effects of the Earth's Atmosphere
    1. Photometric Extinction Corrections [pdf]
    2. The Diffraction Limit and Atmospheric "Seeing" [pdf]
    3. Atmospheric Absorption and Transmission [pdf]
    4. Atmospheric Skyglow and Emission
  5. Observational Tools and Techniques [pdf]
    1. Ingredients of an Astronomical Observation
    2. Instruments and Techniques
    3. Astronomical Detectors
  6. Spectroscopy and Stellar Spectra [pdf]
    1. Types of Spectra: Kirchhoff's Laws
    2. Stellar Spectral Types
    3. Atomic Energy Levels and the Formation of Spectral Lines [pdf]
    4. The Bohr Atom
  7. Interpreting Stellar Spectra [pdf]
    1. Excitation and Ionization Equilibrium: Boltzman and Saha Equations
    2. The Uses of High-Resolution Spectroscopy [pdf]
    3. Line Profiles [pdf]
    4. Equivalent Width and the Curve of Growth [pdf]
    5. Element Abundances [pdf]
  8. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram [pdf] (preliminary)
    1. The Color-Magnitude Diagram
    2. Main Sequence Stars and the Mass-Luminosity Relation
    3. Luminosity Class, Surface Gravity, and Spectroscopic Parallax [pdf] (preliminary)
    4. The Uses of Cluster HR Diagrams
  9. Stellar Motions and Orbits
    1. Proper Motion and Transverse Velocity [pdf]
    2. Moving Clusters, Solar Motion and Statistical Parallax
    3. Kepler's Laws of Orbital Motion [pdf]
    4. Newton's Form of Kepler's Third Law
    5. The Elements of Elliptical Orbits
  10. Binary Stars [pdf]
    1. Visual (Astrometric) Binaries
    2. Spectroscopic Binaries
    3. Eclipsing Binaries [pdf]
    4. Recap: Stellar Masses from Binaries
  11. Stellar Evolution [pdf]
    1. Principles and Dichotomies
    2. Pre-Main Sequence Evolution [pdf]
    3. Brown Dwarfs: Substellar Objects [pdf]