• Class and Office Hours: This class, Astro 358 (Unique 48195), meets Tuesday and Thursdays from 9.30 to 11.00 am in RLM 15.216B. The instructor is Professor Shardha Jogee and the teaching assistant (TA) is Ben Holder. Please consult us during the office hours listed below if you have any questions and we will be glad to help.

Hours: Office: Phone: Email:

Prof. Shardha Jogee Tu Th 5-6 pm or by appointment RLM 16.224 (512) 471-1395 sj@astro.as.utexas.edu

Ben Holder Wed 5 to 6 pm or by appointment RLM 7.206 (512) 471-7253 bholder@physics.utexas.edu

• Course Description: Astronomy 358, "Galaxies and the Universe," is an upper division course designed for majors in the physical sciences. It addresses the properties, contents, origin, and evolution of galaxies; their interaction and mass assembly history; the properties of their central black holes and starbursts; and the characteristics of the early Universe. The emphasis will be on using the laws of physics to interpret observations and understand how galaxies form and evolve. This field is fast-moving and I will discuss some of the latest cutting-edge galaxy surveys conducted with NASA's Great Observatories (Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Infrared Satellite, Chandra X-ray Observatory), such as the GEMS (Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs) survey, the GOODS (Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey) survey, and the HUDF (Hubble Ultra Deep Field). These surveys allow us to probe the evolution of galaxies over a wide range of cosmic lookback times, from the present-day out to epochs when the Universe was less than 5% of its present age.

• Pre-Requisites: Two semesters of college physics (Phy 301 and 316, or equivalent). A previous astronomy course, such as Ast 352K or Ast 307, is helpful but not required. Please make sure to read the Memo to Undergraduate Astronomy Students regarding Astronomy Courses

• Textbook and Reading: The primary course textbook is "Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction", by Linda Sparke and John Gallagher (Publisher: Cambridge University Press, copyright 2000), available in paperback. For additional reading, I have put the book "Galactic Astronomy", by Binney and Merrifield (Publisher: Princeton University Press, copyright 1998) on reserve in the PMA library (RLM, 4th floor) and in the Peridier Library (RLM 15.202). However, note that the course will be primarily based on the lectures where I will cover extra material not present in the textbook, and use simulations or animations to clarify new concepts. There will also be extra handouts and reading material that will be posted on this website as the class proceeds.

• Calendar: The course calendar provides an approximate timeline of the topics to be covered in class. This calendar will be regularly updated as needed, so make sure to consult the online version each week.

• Course Grade: Your grades will be posted online on eGradebook. I strongly recommend that you attend classes as assignments are primarily based on the lectures and your in-class participation count directly toward your final grade. The final grade will consist of
  25% Homeworks
  20% Midterm exam
  20% End-of-term exam
  20% In-class activities (after dropping the lowest score) and class participation
  15% Research paper
  When converting your final numerical grades to letter grades, I will use the scheme below or one that is slightly more lenient:
  A= 85% to 100%
  B= 75% to 84%
  C= 65% to 74%
  D= 50% to 64%
  F= 0% to 49%

• Class Policies: (1) There will be about 4-5 homeworks. Late homeworks will be accepted only if you have been granted an extension prior to the due date and will receive only partial credit; (2) There will be no final comprehensive exam; (3) There will be makeup exams only for students having a valid excuse and an official note from UT for the specific date and time of the missed exam. Makeup exams may be based on any part of the course; (4) The lowest in-class activity score will be dropped, and the remaining scores will make up 20% of the final grade; (5) We will accept requests for correction or re-grade of an assignment (homework, exam or quiz), at latest two weeks after it is handed back to you or posted on eGradebook; (6) You are encouraged to study with other students, but you must write up your own homework, exams, and quizzes. Cheating will be severely punished: if you copy someone's homework/quiz/exam or let someone copy yours, both of you will receive zero credit, and I will consider filing a report to the Dean of Students.

• Research Paper: You will be required to read the literature on a certain topic and write your conclusions in a 10-15 page (single spacing) paper. I will provide a list of possible topics and a list of papers for each topic. If you would like to choose a different topic, please feel free to do so, but talk to me first. The paper will be due on the last day of class.