Department of Physics, Unit Catalogue 2010/11 |
PH30057: Stellar & galactic astrophysics |
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Honours |
| Period: | This unit is available in... |
| Semester 2 |
| Assessment:
| EX 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| Before taking this unit you must take PH10001 and take PH20013 and (take PH20016 or take PH20076) |
| Description:
| Aims: The aims of this unit are to explore the physical processes that lead to the formation and evolution of stars and to the structure and chemical evolution of galaxies. Learning Outcomes: After taking this unit the student should be able to: * describe the structure and dynamics of galaxies and how they are related; * outline the key steps in the formation and evolution of galaxies; * describe the physical processes occurring in the inter-stellar medium; * discuss in detail how stars form from gravitational collapse of dense gas clouds; * solve order of magnitude problems on any part of the syllabus. Skills: Numeracy T/F A, Problem Solving T/F A. Content: Observational background (4 hours): Stellar distances, magnitudes, luminosities. Stellar classification; Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Red shift. Black holes. Large scale structure of the Universe. Galaxies; galactic structure, classification of galaxies, formation and evolution of galaxies. Galactic astrophysics (9 hours): The Milky Way galaxy (MWG). Galactic rotation. Stellar dynamics. The interstellar medium of the MWG. External galaxies. The masses of galaxies. Chemical evolution and star formation histories of galaxies. Galaxies and the large scale structure of the Universe. Stellar astrophysics (9 hours): Components of the ISM; dark clouds, HII regions, T-Tauri stars, HH objects, masers. Angular momentum and magnetic field problems. Obtaining information about the ISM; spectral line shapes, interstellar reddening. Optical depth. Dust grains. Formation of molecules. Radiatively excited regions. Continuum emission. Hydrostatic equilibrium. Collapse processes. Star formation. Evolution of protostars. Molecular outflows. Zero-age main sequence stars. Evolution off the main sequence. Late stages of stellar evolution. Supernovae. Stellar remnants. |