Class Schedule: M W 5:00pm-6:20pm (Pell 209) | Professor: Steve Liebling |
Classroom: Pell Hall 209 | Office: Pell Hall 210 |
Text: Ostlie & Carroll's An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics 2nd Edition | Office Hours: M W 1:00-2:00pm and by appt. |
Web: http://relativity.liu.edu/steve | Phone: 299-3439 |
Pre-requisites: PHY 3, 4, & 19; MATH 9 (or co-requisite) | Email: |
Course credit: 3 credit-hours |
Course Objective: The objectives for the class are for students to: (i) understand and appreciate the application of a range of physics (optics, electricity & magnetism, relativity, etc) to astronomical processes, and (ii) learn about the structure and dynamics of the universe.
Grading Policy:
Homework | 25% |
Test 1 | 25% |
Test 2 | 25% |
Final Exam | 25% |
Homework: Homework assignments will be presented in class and will generally consist of problems from the required text. Homework problems must be done in order to gain mastery of the material and skills necessary for the tests.
Tests: The class will have two tests as indicated on the syllabus. Each test will cover the material presented since the previous test (to be precise, much of what we will learn applies throughout all the chapters, however, the questions will be geared towards specifically covering material presented between the tests). The tests will be given during classtime.
Final: The final will be held during the time dictated by the Registrar during Exam Week.
Cheating: You are encouraged to work on homework problems with others, but what you turn in must be your own work in your own words. However, you must work alone on tests. On exams you may use only a calculator and writing utensils; I will give you a copy of the equation sheet linked above.
Other Resources: Tutors, library books, office hours, and supplemental texts. I'd also recommend the books from my course for nonscientists, especially the quantum mechanics and relativity books.
Syllabus:
Below is the anticipated schedule of what we'll cover.
Near the end of the semester, I generally have
flexibility in what we cover.
If you have a preference for what we might cover, please feel free
to provide feedback.
Week 1 | Sept. 6 | The Celestial Sphere | Ch. 1 | HW1: 4, 5 |
Week 2 | Sept. 11 | Celestial Mechanics | Ch. 2 | HW2: 1, 4, 6a-c, 12; Show Eq. (2.2) holds generally; Compute freq. at which 2 solar mass NSs orbit if separated by 1 AU |
Sept. 13 | Ch. 2 | |||
Week 3 | Sept. 18 | The Continuous Spectrum of Light | Ch. 3 (selected) | HW3: 3a, 5a, 8 |
Sept. 20 | Ch. 3 | |||
Week 4 | Sept. 25 | The Interaction of Light and Matter | Ch. 5 (selected) | HW5: 1a, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12 |
Sept. 27 | Test 1 | Test 1 | ||
Week 5 | Oct. 2 | Telescopes | Ch. 6 | HW6: 7, 12 |
Oct. 4 | The Classification of Stellar Spectra | Ch. 8 | HW8: 15; Line Spectra and HR Diagrams Exercises |
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Week 6 | ||||
Oct. 11 | The Interior of Stars | Ch. 10 | HW10: 13b, 14 | |
Week 7 | Oct. 16 | Main Sequence and Post-Main-Seq. Stel. Ev. | Ch. 13 | HW13: 2, 8 |
Oct. 18 | Chs. 8, 10, & 13 | |||
Week 8 | Oct. 23 | The Fate of Massive Stars | Ch. 15 | HW15: 3, 12, 15, 17 |
Oct. 25 | The Degenerate Remnants of Stars | Ch. 16 | HW16: 9, 10, 12, 14, 21, 24 | |
Week 9 | Oct. 30 | Ch. 16 | ||
Nov. 1 | Review | |||
Week 10 | Nov. 6 | Test 2 | Test 2 | |
Nov. 8 | The Structure of the Universe | Ch. 27 | ||
Week 11 | Nov. 13 | Ch. 27 | ||
Nov. 15 | Active Galaxies | Ch. 28 | ||
Week 12 | Nov. 20 | Cosmology | Ch. 29 | |
Nov. 22 | ||||
Week 13 | Nov. 27 | Ch. 29 | ||
Nov. 29 | The Early Universe | Ch. 30 | ||
Week 14 | Dec. 4 | No class, online assignment | PBS's The Ghost Particle | |
Dec. 6 | No class, online assignment | PBS's The Runaway Universe | ||
Week 15 | Dec. 11 | Ch. 30 and Review for Final | ||
Dec. 13 | Snow/Study Day | |||
Dec. 14-20 | 12/18 M 5-6:20pm | Final Exam |