|
|
| AST 301 |
1
2
3
|
Course Syllabus - AST 301
Prologue
|
-powers of ten (App. 1)
-metric system (App. 2), scales and sizes, light travel time—P.1
-angles (MP P-1, p 8), the skinny triangle
-parallax and the parsec (also pp 254-255), seeing (pp 79-80)—P.5
-motions of the earth: rotation (sidereal vs solar day), revolution (seasons), precession,
the tropical year—P.3
-the moon: phases, sidereal vs synodic month, synchronous (p. 132), tides (pp 129-131), solar
and lunar eclipses, eclipse seasons—P.4
|
Chapter 1
|
-motions of the planets: retrograde motion—1.1
-planetary configurations and visibility of inferior and superior planets, sidereal vs synodic periods
-Kepler's laws—1.3
-mass and weight, Newton's laws and gravity. Your weight on e.g. the moon, falling objects. Predictions
of Newton's laws (p. 186). Orbital and escape speeds, geosynchronous orbits, Newton's generalization
of Kepler's laws—1.4
|
Chapter 2
|
-properties of light: wavelength, frequency, photons (p 60)—2.1
-the EM spectrum, atmospheric windows—2.3
-black-body radiation (Planck, Wien, Stefan-Boltzmann laws)—2.4
-spectral lines (absorption, emission), the sun's spectrum—2.5
-atoms, the spectrum of hydrogen (orbits vs excited states), heavier elements. The Doppler effect
(MP 2-3)—2.6
|
Chapter 3
|
-telescopes (refracting, reflecting), chromatic and spherical aberration—3.1
-light-gathering power, surface accuracy, angular resolution—3.2
-atmospheric seeing, active/adaptive optics, new telescopes, charge-coupled devices (CCDs)—3.3
-radio telescopes and interferometers—3.4
-telescopes for other wavelengths—3.5
|
Chapter 4
|
-solar system planets (terrestrial, Jovian)—4.1
-other planetary systems? (Interlude 4-1)—4.3
|
Chapter 10
|
-stars' luminosities and apparent brightness (inverse square law)—10.2
-stars' temperatures and spectral classes, radii—10.3
-the H-R diagram; red giants and white dwarfs—10.5
-spectroscopic parallax—10.7
-stars' masses and radii (binary stars - visual, spectroscopic and eclipsing), the mass-luminosity
relation, stars' main-sequence lifetimes—10.6
|
Chapter 9
|
-nuclear fusion in the sun—9.5
-energy transport in stars, the solar model—9.2
-solar neutrinos—9.5
|
Chapter 11
|
-formation of main-sequence stars via proto-stars—11.3
-brown dwarfs—11.4
-star clusters as a check on star formation theories—11.5
|
Chapter 12
|
-post-main-sequence evolution, red giants—12.2
-death of sun-like stars, white dwarfs, novae—12.3
-evolution of high-mass stars—12.4
-supernovae (Types I and II)—12.5
-star clusters as a check on stellar evolution theories—12.6
|
Chapter 13
|
-after the supernova: formation of neutron stars - synchrotron radiation (p 417), the Crab Nebula—13.1
-discovery of neutron stars as pulsars—13.2
-black holes: escape speed, the event horizon—13.4
-black holes and curved space—13.5
-falling into a black hole—13.6
-detection of black holes in our galaxy, Cygnus X-1—13.7
|
Chapter 14
|
-our Milky Way galaxy and other spiral galaxies—14.1
-size and shape of our galaxy—14.2
-stellar populations—14.3
-rotation curve and mass of our galaxy, dark matter—14.5
-dust and gas in our galaxy, the 21 cm spectral line—(11.2)
-a black hole at the center of our galaxy?—14.6
|
Chapter 15
|
-other galaxies (spirals, ellipticals, irregulars)—15.1
-galaxy clusters and distribution, estimates of distances to galaxies, the distance pyramid—15.2
-masses of other spirals (rotation curves, dark matter)—15.3
-Hubble's law, expansion and age (17.3) of the Universe, the critical density—15.5
|
Chapter 17
|
-cosmology and the early Universe—17.2
-fate of the Universe (open, closed, accelerating?)—17.3
-the cosmic microwave background radiation—17.5
-cosmic inflation, the horizon and flatness problems—17.7
|
Chapter 16
|
-discovery and properties of quasars—16.5
|
Calculating Your Course Grade
All tests are multiple-choice, with 32 5-answer questions. A/B/C/D correspond to 24/20/16/12 correct
answers on a single test, so the total from your best 4 tests needs to be 96/80/64/48 for a course grade
of A/B/C/D. If you are happy with your total after the four in-class tests, you can stop with whatever grade
that corresponds to, and not take the final. If you are taking the course on a pass/fail basis (most are not),
you need a total of 48 (a D) for a pass.
|
|
|
|
