| Instructor: | Prof. Greg Taylor, PandA Room 180, phone 277-5238, email gbtaylor@unm.edu |
| TA: | Joe Malins, email jmalins@unm.edu |
| Time and place: | TuTh 9:30-10:45 AM Room 5, Physics & Astronomy Building |
| Syllabus and course web page: | http://www.phys.unm.edu/~gbtaylor/astr422/index.html |
| Lectures in PDF format: | http://www.phys.unm.edu/~gbtaylor/astr422/lectures |
| Astro422 Review Program files: | http://www.phys.unm.edu/~gbtaylor/astr422/ARP |
| Textbook: | An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, B.W. Carroll & D.A. Ostlie, 2nd Edition. |
| Prerequisites: | Physics 330 or 491,492 or their equivalent, and Astro 421. |
| Exams and Grades: | Your final grade will be determined through three sectional exams (each 20% of the grade), eight sets of homework (20%) and a term paper (20%). There will be no final exam. |
Some useful links:
Science Daily's website for astronomy
news
Greg Taylor's home page
Search engines for
articles: ADS
database,
Astro-ph
Example of term paper
outline and final write-up. The outline and paper will of course be different depending on your topic, but by writing an outline we will be able to make sure that you work on the relevant pieces from the beginning. And you should study the example to see what all the parts are and the level of detail desired.
| Date | Topic | Chapter | Assignment |
| Tu Jan 19 | The Interstellar Medium: ISM phases, neutral hydrogen | 12.1 | |
| Th Jan 21 | The ISM: WIM, dispersion measures, HII regions | 12.1 | |
| Tu Jan 26 | The ISM: HIM, cosmic rays, synchrotron radiation | 15.5 | |
| Th Jan 28 | The ISM: molecular clouds, H2, interstellar chemistry, IMF |
12.1-12.3 | Homework 1 due |
| Tu Feb 2 | The Milky Way: morphology, ISM distribution | 24.1-24.2 | Term paper topics due |
| Th Feb 4 | The Milky Way: kinematics |
24.3 | Homework 2 due |
| Tu Feb 9 | The Milky Way: the Galactic Center |
24.4 | |
| Th Feb 11 | Galaxies: the Hubble sequence, galaxy types Homework 3 due |
25.1 | Homework 3 due |
| Tu Feb 16 | Exam 1 | 12, 15.5, 24 | |
| Th Feb 18 | Galaxies: spiral galaxies, rotation curves | 25.2 | |
| Tu Feb 23 | Galaxies: spiral structure | 25.3 | |
| Th Feb 25 | Galactic Evolution, Ellipticals and the Green Valley |
26.1 and paper | Homework 4 due |
| Tu Mar 1 | Galactic Evolution: galaxy interactions | 25.4, 26.1 | |
| Th Mar 3 | Galactic Evolution: formation of disks and ellipticals |
26.2 | Homework 5 due |
| Tu Mar 8 | Structure of the Universe: extragalactic distance scale |
27.1 | Term Paper Outline due |
| Th Mar 10 | Exam 2 | 25, 26, 27 | |
| Tu Mar 15 | Spring break | ||
| Th Mar 17 | Spring break | ||
| Tu Mar 22 | Structure of the Universe: Hubble's law, large scale structure |
27.2 | |
| Th Mar 24 | Active Galaxies: types, evolution | 28.1 | |
| Tu Mar 29 | Active Galaxies: unified model, gravitational lensing |
28.2-28.4 | |
| Th Mar 31 | Galaxy Clusters and AGN Feedback |
27.3 | Homework 6 due |
| Tu Apr 5 | Cosmology: Newtonian | 29.1, 29.2 | |
| Th Apr 7 | Cosmology: The Microwave Background | 29.3 | |
| Tu Apr 12 | Peer Review Exercise |
27.3 | Homework 7 reports |
| Th Apr 14 | Cosmology: Relativistic, primordial nucleosynthesis |
29.4 | |
| Tu Apr 19 | The Early Universe: inflation, hot and cold dark matter |
30.1 | Homework 8 due |
| Th Apr 21 | The Early Universe: origin of structure | 30.2 | |
| Tu Apr 26 | Exam 3 | 28, 29, 30 | |
| Th Apr 28 | Graduate Term paper presentations: TBD | ||
| Tu May 3 | Term paper presentations: TBD |
||
| Th May 5 | Term paper presentations: TBD | ||
| Mo May 9 | Full Written Term paper Deadline at 5 pm |