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AST 353
Syllabus
Course Calendar
Lecture Notes
Homework
Exams
Courses
Syllabus

Course Objectives
We will cover the exciting phenomena happening at the end of a star's life: supernova explosions and gamma-ray bursts, the formation and properties of compact remnants (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes). This will lead us to topics at the current frontier of astronomy, e.g., the still mysterious nature of the very first stars that formed at the end of the Cosmic Dark Ages. You will learn to look at the physics describing these cutting-edge phenomena, and make things as simple as possible, but still capture the important effects.

Texts
The two required texts are (available at the Co-op):
  • A.C. Phillips (ACP), The Physics of Stars (2nd edition), Wiley
  • Kip Thorne (KST), Black Holes and Time Warps, W.W. Norton
There is one optional text:
  • James B. Hartle (JBH), Gravity, Addison Wesley
    (this book is more advanced than our course, but it is very good, and you may find it useful to consult it for additional material)
In addition, you may find useful:
  • Ostlie & Carroll, Modern Stellar Astrophysics, if you still have it from AST 352.
Grading
The students final grade will be based on a point system:

Class Participation and Attendance
  20
2 In-class Exams
  2x20
Homework
  40

We won't have a Final Exam.

The following grading scheme will be used:

A
 =  85 - 100
B
 =  70 - 84
C
 =  60 - 69
D
 =  50 - 59
Any score below 50 is failing.

Class Participation
20% of your grade will be based on your class attendance and participation. It is important that you come to class. If you miss more than 2 classes without a valid excuse, you will score zero for class attendance.

Policies
There will be make-up exams ONLY for students with valid excuses. Scholastic dishonesty, in particular any plagiarism, will be prosecuted in accordance with the university guidelines.

Course Calendar




 





13 January 2006
Astronomy Program · The University of Texas at Austin · Austin, Texas 78712
prospective student inquiries: studentinfo@astro.as.utexas.edu
site comments: www@www.as.utexas.edu