This web page concerns ASTR 200 for the period : September - December 2018.

Instructor

Office Hours

Prof Gladman, Henn 300B. gladman@astro.ubc.ca
  - By appointment. Email me!
  FINAL EXAM OFFICE HOURS week of Dec 10-14
  - Monday Dec 10 10:30-12:30
  - Tuesday Dec 11 10:30-12:30
  - Thursday Dec 13 10:30-12:15 REVIEW SESSION, HENN 318, see EMAIL

TA Edward Ashton, Henn 312. eashton@phas.ubc.ca
  - By appointment. Email him.
  FINAL EXAM OFFICE HOURS week of Dec 10-14
  - Wed Dec 12 10:30-12:30
  - Fri Dec 14 10:30-12:30

COURSE INFORMATION

AIM: This course is an introduction to astrophysics. In it we will look at a broad range of astronomical topics ranging from the Solar System to the most distant galaxies, and learn how astronomical phenomena are governed by physical laws and principles.
The main goals of the course are to:
- provide an overview of the Universe and its constituents, including stars, planets, galaxies, white dwarfs, neutron stars, supernovae, dark matter and black holes.
- improve your understanding of physical processes in astronomy.
- help you develop skills at applying physics and math to solve abstract and practical problems

Note: This course also serves as an introduction for ASTR 205 (Stars and Stellar Populations) which is offered in term two, and uses the same text book.

LEVEL: Second year undergraduate. No prior astronomy knowledge assumed
TEXTBOOK (Required): - Foundations of Astrophysics (Ryden and Peterson)
HOURS PER WEEK: Three hours of classroom instruction per week.

Lecture Slides (not for all lectures)

Sept 7. Pre-readings for Friday Sept 7: Sec 2.1 and 2.2; refer to Fig 1.7 when needed,
but also look at THIS FIGURE to see the path of Mars in 2018.
  Lecture 2 for ASTR 200. PDF format.       HOMEWORK 1 assigned, Due Sept 13, 5 PM. Available at bottom of this page.

Sept 10. Pre-readings for Monday Sept 10: Sec 2.3 and pp 58-59 on stellar parallax
  Lecture 3 for ASTR 200. PDF format.

Sept 12. Pre-readings for Wednesday Sept 12: Secs 2.4 and Sec 2.5, pp 61-63
  Lecture 4 on Keplerian motion. No notes. On blackboard.

Sept 14. Readings for Friday Sept 15: pp 68-73 and Sec 3.3 (skipping Eqs. 3.68-3.71)
  Lecture 5 on Astrodynamics. No notes. On blackboard.       HOMEWORK 2 assigned, Due Sept 20, 5 PM. Available at bottom of this page.

Sept 17. Readings for Monday Sept 17: pp. 194-196
  Lecture 6 on Intro to the Solar Sytem. PDF format. TO APPEAR

Sept 19. Readings for Wednesday Sept 19: Read pg 143, look at Figs 5.14 and 5.15, pp 194-197.
  Lecture 7. No notes; on board. Thermal radiation and planetary energy balance.

Sept 21. Readings for Friday Sept 21: Sects 5.0 and 5.1. Colour Figs 2 and 3 (plates in center of book)
  Lecture 8. Spectra and Atomic Structure . PDF file      

Sept 24. Readings for Monday Sept 24: pp. 228-230, on radioactive decay. Also: page 286 on meteorites.
  Lecture 9. Meteorites and radioactive dating. PDF file      

Sept 26. Readings for Wednesday Sept 26: Section 17.1
  Lecture 10. Star formation. PDF file

        SCAN of handwritten notes on cloud collapase and disk formation. PDF file

Sept 28. Readings for Friday Sept 28: Sections 12.1 and 12.2.
  Lecture 11. Protoplanetary disks. PDF file.       HOMEWORK 3 assigned, Due Oct 4, 5 PM. Available at bottom of this page.

Oct 1. Readings for Monday Oct 1: Sections 8.3.
  Lecture 12. Condenstation in protoplanetary disks.

Oct 3. Readings for Wednesday Oct 3: Page 296(start 2nd paragraph)-298, Page 326.
  Lecture 13. The Doppler effect and binary motion.

Oct 5. Readings for Friday Oct 5: Pages 325-329 (to end of 13.5.2)
  Lecture 14. Radial velocity science. PDF file       HOMEWORK 4 assigned, Due Oct 12, 5 PM. Available at bottom of this page.

Oct 8. Thanksgiving. No lecture

Oct 10. Readings for Wednesday Oct 10: Pages 300-303
  Lecture 15. Exoplanets: direct imaging and transits. PDF file

Oct 12. Readings for Friday Oct 12: Pages 304-306.
  Lecture 16. Exoplanet system architectures. PDF file

  - MIDTERM MATERIAL ENDS HERE -

Monday Oct 15. Sections 13.1, pp. 309+310
  Lecture 17. Introduction to Stars. PDF file

Wed Oct 17. Section 14.4, omitting final paragraph containing Eq (14.28)
  Lecture 18. Ensemble properties of stars, equilibrium. PDF file

Fri Oct 19. Sect 9.2, starting 3rd paragraph pg 213 to end of paragraph with (9.8)
Sect 10.2.1 , to end of Page 246. Sect 18.1
  Lecture 19. Equilibrium, and White Dwarves. PDF file

Monday Oct 22. Midterm examination, in class.

Oct 24. Reading for Wed Oct 24, Sect 18.2
  Lecture 20. Neutron stars. PDF file

Oct 26. Reading for Friday Oct 26, Sect 18.3
  Lecture 21. Stellar mass Black Holes. PDF file

Oct 29. Reading for Monday Oct 29, Sections 19.1, 19.2 to end page 441.
  Lecture 22. Our Galaxy. PDF file

Oct 31. Reading for Wednesday Oct 31, Pages 442-443.
  Lecture 23. Dark Matter in our Galaxy. PDF file

Nov 2. Reading for Friday Nov 2, Pages 467-473.
  Lecture 24. Other Galaxies. PDF file

Nov 5. Reading for Monday Nov 5, Sections 22.1, 22.2
  Lecture 25. Galaxy interactions and clusters. PDF file

Nov 7. Readings for Wed Nov 7, No text readings
  Lecture 26. Gravitational Lensing. PDF file

Nov 9. Readings for Fri Nov 9, Sect 20.4 and 20.5 skipping Eq 20.28 and 20.29
  Lecture 27. The Hubble diagram, expansion. PDF file

Nov 12. Holiday in lieu of REMEMBRANCE DAY. No class.

Nov 14. Readings for Wed Nov 14, Sections 22.1, 22.2
  Lecture 28. Supermassive Black Holes and AGN

Nov 16. Readings for Fri Nov 16, Sections 23.3, 23.4
  Lecture 29. Geometry of the universe.

Nov 19. Readings for Monday Nov 19 Section 23.5
Dynamics of the expansion. No electronic notes; Lecture 30 done on blackboard.

Nov 21. Readings for Wed Nov 21, Sect 4.2 to end of page 86.
  Lecture 31. Tides, GR, and Gravitational Waves. PDF file

Nov 23. Readings for Friday Nov 23 Pg 486 and Section 23.5 again.
  Lecture 32. Dark Energy. PDF file.       HOMEWORK 9 assigned, Due Thursday Nov 29, 5 PM. Available at bottom of this page.

Nov 26. Readings for Monday Nov 26 pp 531-532
  Lecture 33. The Cosmic Microwave Background. PDF file

Nov 28. Readings for Wednesday Nov 28 Section 24.3
  Lecture 34. Cosmic Nucleosynthesis. PDF file

Nov 30. Readings for Friday Nov 30 None.
  Lecture 35. The future of the universe. PDF file

Homework Guidelines, for ASTR 200

- The clarity and logic and quality of explanation of your solution is part of the grade. Handing in confusing and/or rough work will result in full marks not being awarded. The graders have the authority to decide if a proposed solution to a problem does not sufficiently explain how and why an answer has been reached.

Homework 1. PDF format.
Due Sept 13, 5 PM (see top of the homework page for instruction). Homework 1 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 2. PDF format.
Due Sept 20, 5 PM (see top of the homework page for instruction).
Optional Homework 2 text table. TXT format. Homework 2 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 3. PDF format.
Due Oct 4, 5 PM (see top of the homework page for instruction).
Homework 3 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 4. PDF format.
Due Oct 12, 5 PM (see top of the homework page for instruction). GRAPH PAPER for download. PDF format.
Homework 4 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 5. PDF format.
Homework 5 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 6. PDF format.
Homework 6 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 7. PDF format.
Homework 7 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 8. PDF format.
Homework 8 Solutions. PDF format.

Homework 9. PDF format.
Homework 9 Solutions. PDF format.

2018 Midterm and solution . PDF format.

LAST year's final exam formula sheet. PNG format image.