ASTR112-12S1 (C) Semester One 2012

Astrophysics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 20 February 2012
End Date: Sunday, 24 June 2012
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 4 March 2012
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 20 May 2012

Description

A general descriptive introduction to modern astrophysics: the Sun and stars, the Galaxy, extragalactic systems and cosmology.

Course Coordinator

For further information see Physics and Astronomy Head of Department

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Final Exam 60%
Lab Work 25%
Mid-semester Test 15%

Notes

100-level physics course information http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/100level.shtml

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Goal of the Course
The goal of this course is to provide foundation knowledge of Astrophysics for students advancing in an astronomy or physics BSc or BSc(Hons) degree.  Students will obtain basic competency in analysing and solving astrophysical problems.  They will also obtain basic astrophysics data analysis skills.


Learning Outcomes
Students will:
• Have developed and be able to demonstrate basic scientific competency to solve appropriate problems in basic astrophysics
• Have developed and be able to demonstrate basic astrophysics data analysis skills
• Have developed and be able to demonstrate writing and associated communication skills.


Summary of the Course Content
The topics covered in this course are:

SUN AND STARS (12 lectures)
How can we study the stars? – characteristics of electromagnetic radiation and matter.  Observed properties of the Sun: photosphere, chromosphere, corona; solar wind and solar activity.  Distances to stars; magnitudes – apparent and absolute; stellar spectra and stellar atmospheres; Hertzsprung-Russell diagram; internal stellar structure; stellar evolution; protostar to stellar death – white dwarfs, planetary nebulae, supernovae, neutron stars and black holes.

THE GALAXY (12 lectures)
Historical introduction.  Constituents of the Galaxy – stars, gas, dust, cosmic rays, dark matter.  Structure of the Galaxy.  Galactic coordinates.  Stellar populations.  Galactic (open) clusters.  Globular clusters.  Galactic rotation.  Mass model for the Galaxy.  Spiral structure. The nucleus and central bulge. The interstellar medium – gas, dust. Galactic cosmic rays. Galactic magnetic field.  Evolution of the Galaxy.

EXTRAGALACTIC ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY (12 lectures)
Galaxies beyond the Milky Way; Hubble’s law and the distance scale; Large-scale structure of the Universe; Active galaxies and quasars; Cosmology – Big Bang & beyond; The new cosmology.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $718.00

International fee $3,350.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Physics and Astronomy .

All ASTR112 Occurrences

  • ASTR112-12S1 (C) Semester One 2012
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