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Modern Astronomy
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Stars and Galaxies
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Modern Astronomy
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This course provides an introduction to the astronomy of the larger universe, beyond our solar system. We will start by looking at how we learn about the stars and review some of the important ideas underlying stellar astronomy. Then we will see how these lead to our current understanding of the stars and galaxies - their birth, life and death - and our developing view of the universe as a whole. Also featured will be some practical experience of astronomy using telescopes on a special viewing night.
This course is essentially about the stars and galaxies and their place in the universe. We will generally assume some knowledge of the basic concepts of astronomy, although we will also review important concepts as we encounter them. We will examine the properties and lives of the stars, clusters, nebulae and galaxies and conclude by seeing how they fit into the "big picture" of Cosmology. The planets and our sun will not be treated explicitly, partly because they were the subject of a similar course earlier in the year. Nevertheless, if there is a subject you would like to hear about during this course, we'll make some time to fit it in!
| 1 | Introduction and review of basic concepts. |
| 2 | Characterising and classifying the stars. |
| 3 | Different types of stars and star clusters. |
| 4 | The interstellar medium - the stuff between the stars. |
| 5 | The evolution of the stars. |
| 6 | Stellar graveyards - white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. |
| 7 | Our galaxy - putting the pieces together. |
| 8,9 | Galaxies - ranging from normal ones like ours to distant quasars. |
| 10 | Cosmology - the universe as a whole. |
A Saturday viewing night is arranged in the Blue Mountains to see what all these objects really look like.
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