ASTR 10500 - Stars And Galaxies

Introduction to the physical universe. Topics include: constellations, gravity, radiation, the Sun, structure and evolution of stars, neutron stars and black holes, the Milky Way galaxy, normal galaxies, active galaxies, quasars, cosmology, and the search for extraterrestrial life.

Cr. 3 or 4.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Learning the methods, tools, and approaches required to conduct a scientific investigation in a research context.
2. Collect, Analyze, and interpret data.
3. Communicate the results using appropriate scientific media.
4. Recite one of the constellation stories that historically people used to make sense of our place in the universe.
5. Chart the Sun’s path on the HR diagram as well as that of more massive and less massive stars, including pre-stellar tracks.
6. Light-matter interaction (atomic ionization and excitation, emission and absorption features).
7. Stellar properties (Distance, luminosity, temperature, size, composition, mass, age and lifetime, velocity).
8. Stellar structure and evolution.
9. Stellar remnants.
10. Interstellar medium and star formation.
11. Milky Way Galaxy and the other galaxies.
12. Galactic nuclei.
13. Large-Scale structure and galaxy formation.
14. Explain how radiation and degeneracy pressure, respectively, enable a star to resist gravity during and after, respectively, its time on the main sequence for various masses of stars.
15. Compare and contrast black dwarfs from white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes, their origins and properties.
16. Articulate why stars pulsate and how Cepheids and type Ia supernovae are used as distance markers.
17. Discuss the implications for light following an inverse square law - both for light pollution on Earth as well as for calibrating stellar luminosities, and why we think dark energy exists.
18. Draw the Hubble Sequence and identify the location of the Milky Way on the Hubble Sequence.
19. Differentiate between the stellar disk, bulge, and halo of the Milky Way, as well as star clusters of various ages.
20. Name three pieces of evidence for dark matter.
21. Explain Fermi’s paradox, its proposed solutions, and the building blocks required for life to exist in other stellar systems in a galaxy, either close by or far, far away.