Astro 103 Lectures

The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Professor Matthew Bershady
Lec-1 9:55-10:45 MW 3425 Sterling
Lec-3 11:00-11:50 MW 3425 Sterling


Part I:   An Astronomical Framework
Week # Date LectureReading & Quizzes
1 1 Mon, Jan 22 Introduction & Tour of the Cosmos
Text: Ch.1.1-1.3,1.7, MP1-1,1-2, scientific notation;
Ch.1.4-1.6 optional
2 Wed, Jan 24 History: From heresy to gravity
Text: Ch. 2 (all)
2 3 Mon, Jan 29 Particles, waves, blackbodies, and lines
Text: Ch. 3 (all)
Web: Assignment #1
4 Wed, Jan 31 Cosmic chemistry
Text: Ch. 4 (all)
3 5 Mon, Feb 05 Light buckets
Text: Ch. 5 (all)
Quiz #1 in Discussion
6 Wed, Feb 07 Sol
Text: Ch. 16 (all)
Web: Assignment #2
4 7 Mon, Feb 12 Stellar Types
Text: Ch. 17 (all), Ch. 1.7, MP1-3
Quiz #2 in Discussion
8 Wed, Feb 14 The Physical Properties of Stars
Text: Chs. 17 (all)
5 9 Mon, Feb 19 Review  
  Wed, Feb 21 First Exam : Lectures 1-9  


Part II:   From Stars to Quasars

Week # Date Lecture Reading & Quizzes
6 10 Mon, Feb 26 Star: Environs and Formation
Text: Chs. 18 and 19 (all)
Web: Assignment #3
11 Wed, Feb 28 Stellar guts
Text: Chs. 16.1, 16.3, 20.1-20.3, MP16-1
7 12 Mon, Mar 05 Aging gracefully
Text: Ch. 20 (all), Ch. 21.1
Quiz #3 in Discussion
13 Wed, Mar 07 End game I: Explosion
Text: Ch. 21 (all)
Web: Assignment #4
8 14 Mon, Mar 12 End game II: Collapse
Text: Ch. 22 (all)
Quiz #4 in Discussion
15 Wed, Mar 14 The Milky Way
Text: Ch. 23.1-23.4, 23.7
Web: Assignment #5
9 16 Mon, Mar 19 Spatial Structure and Stellar Populations
Text: Ch. 23 (all)
Quiz #5 in Discussion
17 Wed, Mar 21 The galaxy manifold
Text: Ch. 24.1
Web: Assignment #6
10 18 Mon, Mar 26 Giant black holes
Text: Chs. 22.5-22.8, 24.4-24.5
Quiz #6 in Discussion
19 Wed, Mar 28 Quasars: Evolution or revelation?
Text: Ch. 25.3-25.4
12 20 Mon, Apr 16 Review  
21 Wed, Apr 18 Second Exam: Lectures 10-20  


Part III:   Cosmology
Week # Date Lecture Reading & Quizzes
11 22 Mon, Apr 09 Rotation, mass and interaction
Text: Chs. 23.3, 23.6, 24 (all), 25.1-25.2
23 Wed, Apr 11 Formation & evolution
Text: Ch. 23.4, 25.3-25.4
13 24 Mon, Apr 23 Hubble's bubble and cosmic spikes
Text: Ch. 24.2-24.3, MP24-1, 25 (all), 26.1-26.2
Web: Assignment #7
25 Wed, Apr 25 Is the expansion real?
Text: Ch. 26 (all)
14 26 Mon, Apr 30 Big Bang or Steady State?
Text: Ch. 26 (all)
Quiz #7 in Discussion
27 Wed, May 02 Open, closed, or critical?
Text: Ch. 26 (all)
15 28 Mon, May 07 The early universe
Text: Ch. 27 (all)
29 Wed, May 09 The meta-universe
Text: Ch. 27 (all)
 
30 Mon, May 14 2007 Final Exam - Lecture 1 10:05 AM - 12:05 PM
Thu, May 17 2007 Final Exam - Lecture 3 2:45-4:45 PM

Last updated: Jan 17, 2007   Matthew Bershady