ASTRONOMY 352K: STELLAR ASTRONOMYFALL 2007 – UNIQUE NO. 50620Class Meetings: Tues. & Thurs., 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM, RLM 15.216BInstructor: Prof. Harriet Dinerstein, RLM 16.324, 471-3449E-mail: [email protected] Hours: Mon. 1 – 2 PM and Wed. 10:30 – 11:30 AMTeaching Assistant: Amanda Bayless, RLM 16.304B, 232-5461E-mail: [email protected]. A. Office Hours: Wed. 1 - 2 PM and Thurs. 11 AM – 12(Amanda is the primary instructor for Ast 152M, the Stellar Astronomy Laboratory.)SUBJECT MATTER:Stars are obviously fundamental to the subject of astronomy; its very name means “the study ofstars”! Stars are the building blocks of galaxies, the central bodies of planetary systems, and thenuclear ovens in which all of the elements heavier than helium were created. Astronomy 352K isa junior/senior-level introduction to stellar astronomy and astrophysics designed for studentsmajoring in astronomy or physics, or closely related majors. We will approach the subject theway observational astronomers do, by starting from the observable properties of stars.“Observables” are quantities that we can measure even from great distances, such as the colorand brightness of the light they emit. By applying basic physical principles, we will show howone can infer the intrinsic (true) properties of stars – such as surface temperature, radius, andluminosity (total energy output in the form of radiation) – from these observables. This requiresus to understand the properties of light quantitatively, and how to interpret its characteristics interms of the physical conditions in and chemical composition of the light source. We will discussthe various instruments and measurement techniques used by astronomers and what each can tellyou. Some of the topics to be covered near the end of the semester will be determined theinterests of the students in this class, through your choices of topics for oral presentations.PREREQUISITE & APPROACH:Physics: The prerequisites are Physics 316 or equivalent (lower-division E&M), and itsprerequisite, Physics 301 (Mechanics), as well as the accompanying math courses. However,astronomy draws on such a wide range of branches of physics – e.g. atomic structure,statistical mechanics, and the theory of radiation – that we cannot expect you to have previouslyseen all of them. So we will introduce the necessary physics as we go along. Furthermore, ourmain interest will lie in applying physical principles to astronomical situations, rather than incarrying out derivations from scratch, and the mathematical manipulations you will perform inthe homework problems will mostly be at the level of algebra, trigonometry, and simple calculus.Astronomy: Some of many of you have previously taken an introductory astronomy course suchas Astronomy 307 or 301, or even other upper-division astronomy courses. None of these areprerequisites, although it may be helpful to have some familiarity with common astronomicalterms. If you find yourself confused by our obscure vocabulary, please ask us (the instructor orT.A.) and we will be happy to explain what the terms mean!TEXTBOOK:The primary text for Ast 352K this semester will be a set of Instructor’s Notes, which will beposted on the course website, in several-page segments, as pdf documents. We will institute apassword-protected interface in order to avoid running into copyright problems. There are notmany textbooks for courses like Ast 352K, although some instructors use “An Introduction toModern Stellar Astrophysics,” by Ostlie and Carroll. The second edition of this book came outwithin the past year. Since it is expensive, I have chosen to list it as only recommended, notrequired, for Ast 352K. If you plan to continue your studies in astronomy, you may wish toown this book for later reference. For those who don’t wish to purchase such an expensivebook, I have placed one copy on reserve in the PMA Library. (There is also a copy of the firstedition.) I will be posting information on the relevant pages in Ostlie & Carroll for each topicwe cover, but the primary text will remain the (free!!) Instructor’s Notes.REQUIRED WORK & GRADING BREAKDOWN:Hour and Final Exams: There will be three in-class hour exams during the semester, and acomprehensive final exam at the official time: Thursday, December 13, 2 – 5 PM. The finalexam is worth 20% of the grade, the same as each of the hour exams. If you take all three hourexams and are satisfied with your grades, you don’t have to take the final. If you choose to takeit anyway, and get a better score than on one of the previous exams, the higher score replacesthe lower one. I do not give make-ups for missed exams, even if they were missed for a goodreason; instead, the final exam serves as the universal make-up exam. It is your responsibilityto make sure that you will be available on the day of the final exam, if there is any chance thatyou may need or wish to take it.Homeworks: The required work for this course will include homework (problem sets). Truthin advertising: These will be fairly long, but there be only about 5 or 6 of them over the wholesemester. Depending on how many are assigned, the lowest one or possibly two homeworkgrades will be dropped. Please note: homeworks are not group projects. You may talk withyour fellow students about the general ideas, but the work you turn in must be your own. Incases of duplicated answers to the problems, neither paper will receive credit.Participation: A significant portion of the grade will be determined by an oral presentation ona topic of special interest to you, but that is also relevant to stellar astronomy. Topics must beapproved in advance by the instructor. The presentation grade will be based on writtenmaterials prepared for distribution to the class, as well as on the quality of the visual materialsand the effectiveness of delivery. Another aspect of the participation portion of the grade willbe an occasional assignment to prepare a 2-3 minute summary of one of our class sessions, tobe presented at the beginning of the next class. Finally, regular attendance and participation isexpected, and constitutes a small part of the grade. Attendance is recorded by means of a sign-in sheet at the beginning of class.Grading Breakdown: The grading scheme will be:In-class and/or final exams: 60% (3 equally weighted exams, each 20%)Homework: 20% of gradeClass Presentations: 15 %General Participation: 5 %IMPORTANT