Courses

Part I. INTRODUCING ASTRONOMY

Chapter 1:  Introduction to the Universe

• Organization and Dimension
• The Milky Way Galaxy
• The expanding universe and the Big Bang

 

Chapter 2: Celestial Mechanics

• Early Astronomy
• Hellenistic Culture
• Renaissance Models

 

Chapter 3: Observing the Universe

• Properties of light
• Spectroscopy 101
• Telescopes

 

Chapter 4: Overall Characteristics of the Solar System.

• The Celestial Sphere
• Overview of the Solar System
• Formation of the Solar System

 

Part II.  STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION
 

Chapter 5: The Sun

• Composition
• Sunspots
• Solar flares and solar wind

 

Chapter 6: The Nature of the Stars

• Parallaxes, luminosity, distance and motion
• Ordinary stars
• Energy production
• Multiple star systems

 

Chapter 7: The Birth of Stars

Chapter 8: Stellar Evolution

• After the Main Sequence
• White dwarf and Novae

 

Chapter 9: Neutron Stars

• The discovery of pulsars
• Superfluidity and superconductivity

 

Chapter 10: Black Holes

• The special theory of relativity
• The curvature of spacetime
• Properties of black holes

 

Part III  GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY
 

Chapter 11: Galaxies

• The Milky Way
• Classification
• Dark matter
• Quasars, Active Galaxies, and Gamma-Ray Bursters

 

Chapter 12: Groups, clusters and superclusters

• Groups of galaxies, the Local Group
• Clusters
• The Great Attractor

 

Chapter 13: Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of the Universe

• Hubble law and the expanding universe
• The Big Bang and the cosmic background radiation
• Dark energy

 

Chapter 14: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Required

Universe: Stars and Galaxies, Roger A. Freedman and William J. Kaufmann II, 3^th edition, W.H. Freeman, 2008.

or the complete book

Universe, Roger A. Freedman, William J. Kaufmann II, Robert Geller, 9^th edition, W.H. Freeman, 2010.

 

 

Assignments

Assignments will be given periodically. You will usually have a week to complete each of them and submit your paper.

 

Midterm and final exam

The exact date for the midterm exam will be decided during the course; the final exam date is set by the university registrar. The mid term and final exams are without books or notes. Only non-programmable calculator is allowed. Students are expected to learn and know the course material.

 

Term paper and oral presentation

The term paper will be a bibliographical report of about 10 single-spaced pages on a topic related to the atmosphere. It should include an abstract, a table of contents, an introduction and a conclusion as well as a list of references. Acceptable references are scientific articles or review of scientific articles published trough a peer-review process.

 

Here is an interesting guideline for term papers:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/termpapr.htm

Don’t hesitate to use the STFX writing center. It contains many links and tips about essay writing.

http://www.mystfx.ca/resources/writingcentre/

For the bibliography, you can use the StFX library service:

http://library.stfx.ca/help/helpdesk.php

 

Deadline

 

 

Students will have to perform an oral presentation of about 10 minutes in front of the class at the end of the term. The schedule for each student will be decided after the “Topic” deadline.

Depending on weather, a session of telescopic observations will be scheduled during the term. Students will be informed in advance of the date of the event. Observations are an integral part of the course and, therefore, participation is required.