Astro 452: Tentative schedule:

References:
Sparke & Gallagher (SG): Galaxies in the Universe
Shu (Shu): The Physical Universe

                                                                                                                                                
Date
Topic
Reading materials
1/28, 2/2
Overview and introduction (lecture notes)
        What are galaxies, and why do we want to study them?
         Basic facts about galaxies
         Galaxies in a cosmological context
Chapter 1 (SG)
Chapter 1 (Shu)
2/4, 2/9, 2/11
Astronomical observations (lecture notes)
        Photometric observations
        Spectroscopic observation
        Measuring distances
Chapter 1 (SG)
Chapters 2, 3 (Shu)
2/18
In-class quiz

2/2/23, 2/25, 3/2
Basic properties of stars (lecture notes)
         Stellar population
         Stellar evolution
         Stellar spectra and spectral synthesis
Chapters 1, 2 (SG)
Chapters 5,8 (Shu)
3/4, 3/9
The interstellar medium (lecture notes)
        The basic components
        Cold neutral gas
        Molecular gas
        Dust extinctions
        HII regions
Chapter 2 (SG)
Chapter 11 (Shu)
3/11
In-class quiz


Spring Recess

3/23, 3/25, 3/30
How stars move in galaxies? (lecture notes)
       Orbits of stars in galaxies
       Virial theorem
       Jeans equations and applications
Chapter 3 (SG)
4/1, 4/6, 4/8,4/13
Spiral galaxies (lecture notes)
       Basic components
       The formation of spiral arm structure
       Rotation curves and dark matter halos
       Scaling relations
       Gas and star formation
Chapter 5 (SG)
4/15
In-class quiz

4/21, 4/22, 4/27
Elliptical galaxies (lecture notes)
       Basic structure
       Stellar population and gas
       Kinematic properties
       Scaling relations
       Probing dark matter with gravitational lensing
Chapter 6 (SG)
4/29
In class quiz

5/4, 5/6, 5/11
Presentations