| PROFESSOR: | Chris Sneden |
| Office: | RLM 15.218 |
| Phone: | 471-1349 (office); 343-0004 (home) |
| E-mail: | chris@verdi.as.utexas.edu |
| Office Hours: | TTH 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (subject to change) |
| TA: | Greg Doppmann |
| Office: | RLM 16.308 (for AST 152M) |
| Phone: | 471-3453 |
| E-mail: | greg@astro.as.utexas.edu |
| Office Hours: |
| GRADER: | Jodie Martin |
| E-mail: | jodie@astro.as.utexas.edu |
Text:
None! Notes, suggested readings on reserve in libraries.
Course Grading:
Homework Sets 40% of grade
Hour Tests (3 of them) 40%
Class Presentation 20%
Final Exam 0% (last Hour Test during the final exam period)
What is it? Who am I speaking to?
Astronomy 352K is a junior/senior-level introduction to
stellar astronomy and astrophysics, with emphasis on observational
and empirical methods for studying stars via the light they emit.
It is designed mainly for upper-division astronomy majors, but
it is also suitable for students majoring in closely related fields
such as physics or engineering.
Prerequisites?
The prerequisites for AST 352K are Physics 316 (E&M) or its
equivalent, and its prerequisite Physics 301 (Mechanics), as well
as the math required for these courses. Astronomy draws on such
a wide variety of areas in physics that we cannot expect you to
have prior preparation in all of them, and will introduce physical
ideas and laws as needed. (Examples include the theory of radiation,
atomic structure, and statistical mechanics.) We will usually
be interested mainly in applying physical principles, rather
than in deep and lengthy derivations, and in general the mathematical
manipulations expected of you (e.g., on homework sets)
will be pretty straightforward.
Background?
We do not assume that you have a strong previous background in
astronomy, although many of the students will have previously
either taken other upper-division astronomy courses or at least
had an introductory astronomy course such as AST~307. If you find
that there are gaps in your background, please ask me to explain
or elaborate (either in class or during office hours); you might
also find it helpful to consult one of the many fine introductory
textbooks that are widely available (I can lend you one of them).
Overlap with other courses?
There is a small amount of overlap between AST~352K and
AST~358 (Galactic Astronomy), AST~353 (Stellar Structure), and
AST~352L (Positional, Kinematical, and Dynamical Astronomy). We
will try to avoid excessive redundancy, but that is inevitable
in some subject areas, since not all members of the present class
will have taken these other courses.
Textbook?
Nope. This is because I find no single text satisfactory
enough to justify asking you to spend $50--100. Instead, I will
put various texts on reserve in the Peridier library, and I will
recommend readings from them. In addition, my class notes will
be placed on reserve in both the Peridier and PMA libraries.
Your presentation?
Students generally benefit from the experience of researching
a specific topic in some depth. Toward the latter part of this
course you will be asked to give a short (10 minute) presentation
on a topic that deals with some interesting aspect of stellar
astronomy. Your presentation will be an oral explanation of a
poster on the subject that you have prepared for the occasion.
Your grade will be determined from a combination of astronomical
content, presentation style and effort, and the quality of the
poster that accompanies your presentation. You will individually
prepare and give this small talk on some narrow stellar astronomy
topic, but in the context of a broader topic to be addressed by
a group of students. There will be three or four broad areas drawn
from the latter topics in the preliminary syllabus given below,
each of which will be assigned to a group of three to five students.
The members of the group will work together to decide how to divide
up the larger topic into individual presentations, and will also
serve as a pool of informed people in the same general area, and
can (ought to!) provide an audience for "practice" presentations
that (ought to!) take place prior to the formal presentation in
class. Groups that work together well and give uniformly high-quality
presentations will get "bonus" points added to their
grade, giving students an incentive to help each other.
My bias in this course?
I regard this course as a vital link between the basic, often
elegant physics and mathematics that you have ingested at UT for
the past two-three years, and the real, often messy world of astronomical
research. Astrophysics combines elements from all areas
of physics to offer coherent theoretical models for how the solar
system, galaxy, and universe
are constructed and how they have and will evolve. If you are
looking for that in this course, forget it. Theoretical astrophysics
cannot really derive rational models for an object without appealing
to observational astronomy. I am not an astrophysicist
as the term is usually meant (that is, I am not a theorist). I
am an observational astronomer, and proud of it. And observational
astronomy is what you will find covered in this course. Not
how is the universe constructed, but how does one practically
assemble the basic data about particular astronomical objects
(stars) that can be gainfully used in constructing the story of
the universe?
Homework and your approach to it?
The homework sets are the keys to what I want to get done
in this course. I intend to be (perhaps irritatingly) vague in
some of the assignments that I give to you. This is admitted at
the beginning to be totally deliberate. Real astronomical research
usually does not admit cookbook approaches to interesting problems,
and I want you to get used to that. Such an approach is also a
signal on my part that I encourage interactions with you outside
class. Feel free to discuss with me the course material, problem
sets, or any other astronomical topic that come to mind. On the
first page I give the formal office hours, but you of course may
set up appointments with me at other rational times of day. Notice
also that I give my work number (for which I have an answering
machine), email address (to which I attend regularly), and my
home phone number. I would not give out my home phone number (OK,
it's true that we are the
only Snedens in the Austin telephone directory) if I did not expect
calls in the evening whenever you need to. I want to help you
do well in this course, but I need you to make contact!
Don't be shy: remember that the truly stupid question is the unasked
one.
Caveat Emptor?
I finish with two warnings, one applicable to all faculty
members here and one specific to me. First, in this department
you deal with professional astronomers. The good part is that
you get very close to current research, and that can be very exciting.
The bad part is that we tend to travel a lot (most obviously to
observatories in remote and exotic locales), and it is entirely
possible that I may need to excuse myself from class a couple
of times during the semester. However, all classes will meet,
and if I must be out of town I will have a substitute lecturer
for class. [At present I have only a trip planned during spring
break.] Second, I am currently chairman of this department. This
means that inevitably I am pulled in many different teaching/service/research
directions simultaneously, and frankly I am very busy. However,
this should not become your problem! I expect you to work in this
class, and you should expect no less of me. Do not feel the slightest
hesitation in pushing me to make time for you outside of class;
politely in the beginning, but more firmly if I do not respond.
Interaction on this course can only help.