ASTRO 358/SPRING 2015 GALAXIES AND THE UNIVERSE COURSE OUTLINE I will try to adhere to the course outline below as closely as possible, but there may be small pacing changes based on the background of the students enrolled in the course. The outline will be updated regularly and the most current version can be found at http://www.as.utexas.edu/~sj/a358-sp15/a358-sp15-calendar.txt In-class activities and quizzes can take place at any time in the semester and are not all listed on the course outline. A list of reference textbooks for reading is given at the end of the ouline. Jan 20 Course Overview and Pre-requisites Jan 22, 27, 29 Introduction to Nearby Galaxies Galaxy Morphological Types and Classification Systems Jan 29 - Quiz on Pre-Requisite Materials Feb 3, 5, 10, 12, 17 - Overview: Unveiling the Dark Side (Dark Matter and Dark Energy) - Motion of Particles Under Newtonian Laws of Gravity - Evidence for Dark Matter in Galaxies and Local Group from Newtonian Dynamics - Evidence for Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters (using the Virial - Dark Matter Alternatives: Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) - Evidence for Dark Matter from Gravitational Lensing (by MACHOS, galaxies, and cluster of galaxies) - Candidates for Dark Matter : Baryonic (MACHOS), non-Baryonic CDM (e.g., WIMPS) non-baryonic HDM (e.g., neutrinos) - Candidates for Dark Matter & Implication for Structure Formation Feb 24, 26 Galaxy Luminosity Functions Mar 3, 5, 10 Galaxy Interactions and Mergers Mar 12 Mid Term Exam Spring Break = Mar 16-21 Mar 24, 26, Galaxy Interactions and Mergers (continued) Star Formation: Tracers and Theoretical Framework Mar 31 Background lecture for the class project on "Unveiling Galaxy Evolution with Current and Next-Generation Observational Facilities". For this project, each team of 4-5 students will will give oral presentations on a specific facility. Apr 2 Student teams meet in class to select a team representative, and to organize the work among team members for their oral presentation. Apr 7, 14, 16 Star Formation: Tracers and Theoretical Framework (continued) Black Holes and AGN Apr 21 Black Holes and AGN (contd) Feedback on Drafts of Class Presentattions Apr 23, 28 + part of Apr 30 Talks by student teams for the class project "Unveiling Galaxy Evolution with Current and Next-Generation Observational Facilities" Part of Apr 30 Discussion of homework solution sets May 5 Discussion of homework solution sets + Exam 2 Galaxy Transformation in Different Environments Outstanding challenges for hierarchical models of galaxy evolution Course Synopsis May 7 Second Mid Term Exam REFERENCE TEXTBOOKS AND READING MATERIAL - EAC = "Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology" by Peter Schneider (Publisher: Spinger, copyright 2006) - GA = "Galactic Astronomy, by Binney and Merrifield (Publisher: Princeton University Press, copyright 1998) - GU = "Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction", by Sparke & Gallagher (Publisher: Cambridge University Press, copyright 2000)