PHY 3910 - Astronomy and Astrophysics

3 lecture hours 0 lab hours 3 credits

• Introducing astronomy as a science:

  • Assess whether a given theory is a scientific or not

  • Distinguish between astronomy and astrology 

  • Discuss the history of astronomy and astronomical observations

  • Describe the universe in general terms, its constituents, and the Earth’s position in the universe

• Newtonian gravity and orbital dynamics:

  • Explain the origin of the Earth’s seasons, lunar phases and eclipses of the sun and moon

  • Describe how the laws of Newtonian mechanics lead to an understanding of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

  • Discuss the mechanics of orbits and how the energy of an orbiting system determines the orbit’s shape (hyperbolic, parabolic, or elliptical)

  • Determine properties of orbiting dynamical systems using concepts such as escape velocity, the virial theorem, precession, the Roche limit, and tidal forces

• The emission of astronomical bodies:

  • Describe the electromagnetic spectrum and the inverse square law of propagation of electromagnetic energy

  • Discuss the Planck radiation law, black-body radiation, and basic atomic theory as it relates to emission and absorption spectra

  • Explain the importance of spectroscopy in astronomy, as used in temperature determination and spectral classification, composition, and relative velocity of stars 

• Our measurements and telescopes:

  • Calculate changes in celestial coordinates

  • Describe what makes for a good ground-based telescope site (including the impact of the environment on the seeing)

  • Describe various forms of astronomical instrumentation, including optical and radio telescopes, photometric devices, and ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray telescopes

  • Explain the key considerations in the design of space telescope projects including their orbital location, hardware, cost, and intended targets

• Stars:

  • Describe how stars form from clouds of gas and dust

  • Describe the life cycle of stars and explain how the details of a star’s life cycle depends on its mass

  • Explain how globular clusters are used to study stellar evolution

  • Explain how the HR diagram and computer methods lead to an understanding of the structure and evolution of stars, including white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, black holes, and supernovae

  • Explain how the apparent and absolute magnitudes of stars are determined

  • Explain how astronomical distances are determined

  • Understand how the energy radiated by the sun is produced and to calculate the sun’s probable lifetime

• General relativity and black holes: 

  • Describe the differences between Newtonian gravity and general relativity

  • Describe the differences between special relativity and general relativity

  • Discuss key properties of black holes such as their Schwarzschild radius, spin, and mass

  • Discuss accretion onto black holes, the jets resulting from this accretion, and the impact those jets have on surrounding stellar environments

  • Explain the phenomena of gravitational lensing, and the way it is leveraged in astronomical measurements

  • Discuss the generation of gravitational waves and how they are detected here on Earth

• Galaxies: 

  • Describe the Milky Way Galaxy, its shape, size, and structure

  • Discuss galaxies, galactic distances and galactic types, including quasars

  • Explain the relationship between a galaxy’s stellar population and its color and age

  • Explain how galaxy rotation curves helped establish the concept of dark matter

• Cosmology:

  • Discuss the structure of the universe, the Hubble law, and the big bang cosmological model

  • Explain the components of the universe beyond normal matter, including curvature, dark energy, and dark matter. Understand the way they impact the dynamics of the universe as a whole and the experimental findings that motivated these ideas

  • Discuss the large-scale structure of the cosmos, including the cosmic web of dark matter, filaments, voids, and galaxy clusters

  • Explain the ways in which the theory of inflation is able to harmonize the big bang theory with our observations that the universe is flat, homogeneous, isotropic, and without topological defects such as magnetic monopoles

• Introductory physics (Newtonian mechanics)

• Introduce the history of astronomy, its distinction from astrology, and the distinction between science and pseudo-science 
• The Earth’s motion, position in the universe, and the origin of the seasons 
• Lunar phases and eclipses of the sun and moon 
• Newtonian gravity and its applications, including Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, orbital dynamics and energetics, escape velocity, the virial theorem, precession, the Roche limit, and tidal forces 
• The emission of astronomical bodies as governed by the Planck radiation law, black-body radiation, and basic atomic theory as it relates to emission and absorption spectra 
• The role of spectroscopy in astronomy, as used in temperature determination and spectral classification, composition, and relative velocity of stars 
• Measurements of astronomical coordinates, distances, and the brightness of astronomical sources 
• Telescopes of all kinds, including optical and radio telescopes, photometric devices, and ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray telescopes, why some are space-based and some ground-based, what makes for a good ground-based telescope site (including the impact of the environment on the seeing), what considerations go into the design of space telescope projects (orbital location, hardware, cost, intended targets, etc.) 
• The formation, evolution, and death of stars, including how globular clusters are used to study stellar evolution and how a star’s placement on the HR diagram changes over its lifetime 
• Stellar remnants including white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, black holes, and supernovae. 
• The processes underlying the generation of energy in the Sun and the Sun’s probable lifetime. 
• The theory of General Relativity and its most extreme consequences, including black holes, gravitational lensing, and the generation of gravitational waves. 
• The Milky Way Galaxy’s shape, size, and structure. 
• Types of galaxies, including elliptical, spiral, quasars, etc. As well as the relationship between a galaxy’s stellar population and its color and age
• Key concepts in modern cosmology, including the large-scale structure of the universe, the Hubble Law, the Big Bang cosmological model, the theory of inflation, and the components of the universe beyond normal matter (curvature, dark energy, dark matter, etc.)