| Course ID: | ASTR-3415-001 |
| Credit Hours: | 3 |
| Lecture Times: | T R 11:15 p.m. -- 12:35 p.m. |
| Lecture Location: | Brown Hall, Room 264 |
| Lecturer: | Dr. Donald Luttermoser |
| E-mail: | lutter@mail.etsu.edu |
| Office: | 279 Brown Hall (423-439-7064) |
| Office Hours: | M W 2:05 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. |
| Textbook: | An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (1996) by
Carroll & Ostlie, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, ISBN 0-201-54730-9 |
| Week/Day | Topics | Readings | Note Sections |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 9 | Radiative Transfer & Atomic Structure | Chapters 3, 5 | I |
| January 14, 16 | Stellar Spectra & HR Diagram | Chapter 8 | II |
| January 21, 23 | The Solar and Stellar Atmospheres | Chapters 11, 9 | III |
| January 28, 30 | Stellar Interiors | Chapters 10, 11 | IV |
| February 4 | Exam 1 | Chapters 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 | I-IV |
| February 6 | Stellar Evolution: Birth | Chapter 12 | V |
| February 11, 13 | Stellar Evolution: Main Sequence and Post-Main Sequence | Chapters 13, 14 | VI |
| February 18, 20 | Stellar Evolution: Old Age and Death | Chapter 14 | VII |
| February 25, 27 | Stellar Corpses: White Dwarfs & Neutron Stars | Chapters 15 | VIII |
| March 3-7 | The Theory of Relativity & Black Holes | Chapter 16 | VIII |
| March 11, 13 | The Milky Way Galaxy, Star Clusters, and the ISM | Chapters 2, 12, 22 | IX |
| March 17-21 | Spring Break | No Class | --- |
| March 25 | Exam 2 | Chapters 2, 12-17, 22 | V-IX |
| March 27 | Normal Galaxies | Chapters 23, 25 | X |
| April 1, 3 | Hubble's Law, Galaxy Clusters, & Active Galaxies | Chapters 25, 24, 26 | X |
| April 8, 10 | Gravitation, General Relativity, & Cosmology | Chapter 27 | XI |
| April 15, 17 | The Big Bang Theory and the History of the Universe | Chapters 27, 28 | XI |
| April 22, 24 | Current Research & Course Review | --- | --- |
| April 29* | Exam 3 | Chapters 23-28 | X, XI |
Please consult the ETSU supplemental syllabus attachment for other helpful university information.
Click here to view the web page for this course. This course web page has all of the courses notes available for download in either postscript (PS) and PDF format.
Astrophysics covers the theoretical basis of what we know about the Universe. It is the study of astronomical phenomena through the techniques described by physics: mechanics, atomic and molecular physics (i.e., quantum mechanics), nuclear physics, relativity, and electromagnetism, to name only a few. The students will have a firm understanding of the basics of astrophysics at the conclusion of this course. Students should have already taken (or concurrently taking) PHYS-2110/20, Technical Physics I & II before taking this course. Mathematics through Calculus III also would be useful. Topics will include stellar atmospheres, stellar interiors, stellar evolution, galactic structure, galaxies, and cosmology. The main goal of this course is to demonstrate how the Universe works. Astrophysics is a problem-solving course, that is, the measure of a student's progress is demonstrated by the ability to solve numerical problems in astrophysics, and not just to quote laws and formulas. The class notes will be extremely useful as a guide for solving problems on the exams and homework, so it is strongly recommended that you attend each lecture. The homework will be designed to help develop these skills and the exams to test the student on these skills. It is assumed that the students all have a reasonable working knowledge of calculus and trigonometry at the Technical Physics level. Basic differential equations will be introduced to the student along with the methods used for solving them when these equations are encountered. There also will be a course project that will be due by the end of the semester. This project will involve computer modeling in the Computer Lab of Brown Hall 264. Comparisons will then be made between the model and astronomical observations in the analysis component of the project.
There will be 3 exams throughout the semester on the dates listed on the syllabus -- there will not be a comprehensive final. Each exam will cover material prior to the test and be taken during class time (except for Exam 3). Each exam will be worth 100 points. There will be 4 or 5 problem sets (i.e., homework) assigned throughout the semester. Each set will contain anywhere from 4 to 10 problems which the student will have to turn in approximately 2 weeks after they are assigned. The homework is worth 30% of your final grade, so don't ignore doing it. They will also prove to be very useful in preparing for the exams. Some of the problems on the homework will involve use of a computer. Finally, there will be a course project which will involve the analysis of synthetic spectra generated from the ATLAS stellar atmospheres code. Both ATLAS and IDL procedures to analyze the spectra will be available on the computers in Brown Hall 264. You will be given handouts near the beginning of the semester that will give brief tutorials on Fortran and IDL to help you understand what the codes are doing. As well, a separate handout will be passed out that describes this computer project in detail. An 8-10 page term paper describing your work is required for this project. This paper will be due by Tuesday, April 10th. For those of you familiar with LaTeX, I will have a LaTeX template file available of the machines in Brown Hall 264 that you can use for your term paper.
| Exam | Note Sections | Textbook Chapters | Date Given |
| 1 | I, II, III, IV | 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 | Tuesday, February 4, 2003 |
| 2 | V, VI, VII, VIII, IX | 2, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22 | Tuesday, March 25, 2003 |
| 3 | X, XI | 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 | Tuesday, April 29, 2003 |
The grading system will be based by the following criteria:
The final grades will be based on the following scale:
| A | = | 90% or better | B- | = | 73-75.9% | D+ | = | 56-58.9% | ||
| A- | = | 88-89.9% | C+ | = | 70-72.9% | D | = | 50-55.9% | ||
| B+ | = | 86-87.9% | C | = | 62-69.9% | F | = | Less than 50% | ||
| B | = | 76-85.9% | C- | = | 59-61.9% |
Note that a failing grade also will be given if the student has engaged in any form of academic dishonesty including (but not limited to) copying and plagiarism.