Undergraduate Course: Astrophysics 3 (VS2) (PHYS10076)
Course Outline
| School |
School of Physics and Astronomy |
College |
College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Part-year visiting students only |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits |
10 |
| Home subject area |
Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None |
|
|
| Course description |
The course provides a broad introduction to the extragalactic universe. Topics include the properties of our own Milky Way Galaxy, the basic properties and evolution of other normal and active galaxies, basic stellar dynamics and the large scale structure and evolution of the Universe. |
Entry Requirements
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites |
|
| Prohibited Combinations |
|
Other requirements |
Year 2 Physics and Mathematics
|
| Additional Costs |
None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 2, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
WebCT enabled: No |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Other | Lecture | | 1-11 | | 12:10 - 13:00 | | | | | Other | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | | 12:10 - 13:00 | | King's Buildings | Tutorial | | 3,5,7,9,11 | 14:00 - 15:50 | | | | |
| First Class |
Week 1, Tuesday, 12:10 - 13:00, Zone: Other. ROE Lecture Theatre |
| Additional information |
Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged. |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, it is intended that the student will be able to :
1) Describe in quantitative detail the morphology, content, structure and dynamics of the Milky Way and external galaxies.
2) Derive the basic formulae used to determine the velocity structure of the Milky Way, and to quantitatively describe the internal dynamics of stellar systems in general.
3) Explain how the masses of galaxies are deduced and how the distances to galaxies are established via the cosmological distance ladder.
4) Understand the physics of active galactic nuclei and be able to calculate order-of-magnitude estimates for key physical quantities.
5) Provide a quantitative description of the galaxy population at large, including galaxy number counts, luminosity functions, and clustering.
6) Describe in quantitative detail the evidence for an expanding and evolving Universe. Be able to derive and solve the basic equations describing the dynamics of the expansion.
|
Assessment Information
| Degree Examination, 100% |
Special Arrangements
| Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Dr Philip Best
Tel:
Email: pnb@roe.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mrs Linda Grieve
Tel: (0131 6)50 5254
Email: linda.grieve@ed.ac.uk |
|
copyright 2010 The University of Edinburgh -
1 September 2010 6:34 am
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