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Physics 172
Spring 2025
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Stellar Astronomy & Cosmology
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Course Materials:
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Week 0:
1/22-24
Intro to Astronomy [Ch. 1, 2]
Physics 172
syllabus
Wednesday, January 22: Class cancelled due to winter weather.
Friday, January 24: Lecture 1: Course structure, science & astronomy, units & notation.
Friday, January 24: Lecture Notes: SI units, speed of light, light year.
Problem Set #1, due Friday, January 31, 2025 (hard copy, due in-class)
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Week 1:
1/27-31
Basic Physics I: Motion and Orbits [Ch. 2, 3]
Monday, January 27: Lecture 2: Distances with c, scientific notation, length scales, Erastostenes.
Monday, January 27: Lecture Notes: Light years, exponents, and trigonometry review.
Wednesday, January 29: Lecture 3: Orbital basics, seasons, parallax, Kepler's laws.
Friday, January 31: Lecture 4: Constellations, Kepler's laws.
Friday, January 31: Lecture Notes: Kepler's 2nd law at aphelion and perihelion.
Problem Set #2 is due Friday, February 7 by 9:00 AM on ExpertTA.
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Week 2:
2/3-7
Basic Physics II: Newton and Gravity [Ch. 3]
Monday, February 3: Lecture 5: Galileo, gravity, Galilean relativity, and Newton's laws.
Monday, February 3: Lecture Notes, Problem #1: Kepler's 2nd law at aphelion and perihelion (continued).
Monday, February 3: Lecture Notes, Problem #2: Orbital speed vs orbital radius.
Wednesday, February 5: Lecture 6: Galilean relativity, Newton's laws, momentum and energy, gravity by Newton.
Wednesday, February 5: Lecture Notes: Conservation of momentum, rifle recoil.
Friday, February 7: Lecture 7: Newton's laws, circular motion, center of mass, angular momentum.
Friday, February 7: Lecture Notes: Acceleration due to Earth's gravity.
Problem Set #3 is due Friday, February 14 by 9:00 AM on ExpertTA.
Extra practice problems for week 2 topics (ungraded)
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Week 3:
2/10-14
Basic Physics III: Light and Matter [Ch. 5, 16.1-2]
Monday, February 10: Lecture 8: Escape velocity, tidal forces, electromagnetic waves.
Monday, February 10: Lecture Notes: Newton's version of Kepler's 3rd law for mass determination.
Wednesday, February 12: Lecture 9: Electromagnetic spectrum, blackbody radiation, light pressure.
Wednesday, February 12: Lecture Notes: Blackbody radiation of a hot star.
Friday, February 14: Lecture 10: Photons, atomic structure, spectroscopy, Doppler effect, nuclear particles.
Problem Set #4 is due Wednesday, February 19 by 9:00 AM on ExpertTA.
Extra practice problems for week 3 topics (ungraded)
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Week 4:
2/17-21
Nuclear Physics & Astronomy Instruments [Ch. 5, 16.1-2, 6]
Monday, February 17: Lecture 11: Doppler effect, Nuclear particles, P-P chain solar fusion, charged (anti-)particles.
Monday, February 17: Lecture Notes: Doppler shift.
Wednesday, February 19: class cancelled due to winter weather.
Friday, February 21: class cancelled due to winter weather.
MIDTERM #1 (originally on Friday, Feb. 21) is scheduled for Monday, February 24, 2025 (in-class)
Formula sheet for midterm #1
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Week 5:
2/24-28
Astronomy Instruments [16.1-2, 6]
MIDTERM #1 on Monday, February 24 (in-class)
Formula sheet for midterm #1
Wednesday, February 26: Lecture 12: nuclear particles vs photons, astrolabe, refracting and reflecting telescopes.
Friday, February 28: Lecture 13: Reflecting telescopes, angular resolution, adaptive optics.
Friday, February 28: Lecture Notes: Angular resolution of the Gemini telescope.
Problem Set #5 is due Friday, March 7 by 9:00 AM on ExpertTA.
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Week 6:
3/3-7
Our Sun & Main Sequence Stars [6, 15, 16, 17]
Monday, March 3: Lecture 14: Angular resolution, interferometry, CCD cameras, telescopes by wavelength.
Monday, March 3: Lecture Notes: Size of Betelgeuse.
Wednesday, March 5: Lecture 15: The Sun (visual tour, surface, internal structure, solar fusion).
Optional: Ring of fire eclipse photo on APOD: LINK
Optional: Ring of fire eclipse video on APOD: LINK
Friday, March 7: Lecture 16: Interlude 1 instructions, star brightness, star color, star luminosity.
Friday, March 7: Lecture Notes: Apparent brightness of Sirius versus Betelgeuse.
Problem Set #6 is due Friday, March 21 by 9:00 AM on ExpertTA.
Interlude 1: Essay topics and instructions (due on Friday, March 28)
Tentative Title Form (due on Monday, March 17)
The Interlude 1 essay should be submitted as a PDF on Gradescope: PHYS 172 course on Gradescope
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Week 7:
3/17-21
Main Sequence Stars [18, 19, 22, 23]
Monday, March 17: Lecture 17: Stellar statistics, luminosity vs mass, H-R diagram, stellar evolution.
Optional: Extremely zoomable center of the Milky Way galaxy (ESO, IR and near-IR): LINK
Wednesday, March 19: Lecture 18: Sun-like stars: main sequence to red giant, planetary nebula, white dwarf.
Wednesday, March 19: Lecture Notes: Pauli exclusion principle.
Optional: Zoomable Helix nebula: Hubble and Kitt Peak (Noir Lab, very high resolution)
Friday, March 21: Lecture 19: Evolution of massive stars, type-II supernovae (images & physics).
Friday, March 21: Lecture Notes: Wavelength and luminosity of a just-born white dwarf.
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Week 8:
3/24-28
Type II Supernovae and Einstein's Relativity [22, 23, 24]
Monday, March 24: Lecture 20: Type II supernova physics, supernovae remnants, neutron stars, pulsars.
Monday, March 24: Lecture Notes: Neutrino flux from supernova SN 1987A.
Wednesday, March 26: Lecture 21: Neutron stars, pulsars, special relativity, length contraction.
Wednesday, March 26: Lecture Notes: Rotation frequency of a Sun-based white dwarf ... "neutron star".
Friday, March 26: Lecture 22: Einstein, special relativity, length contraction, time dilation, general relativity.
Optional: What if c=20 km/h ? Video simulation at captaineinstein.org, or on youtube.com
Problem Set #7 is due Friday, April 4 by 9:00 AM on ExpertTA.
MIDTERM #2 is scheduled for Monday, April 7, 2025 (in-class)
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