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Contact details:
- Instructor: Stephen Kane
- Office: TH 309
- Office hours: Wednesdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm
- Phone: 415-338-2451
- Email: skane@sfsu.edu (write ASTR 400 in subject)
Download the class syllabus here.
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Class times:
- Tuesday, 12:35pm-1:50pm TH 425
- Thursday, 12:35pm-1:50pm TH 425
Text:
- An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, 2nd edition
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Important Dates:
- September 14: Last day to drop without a W
- October 6: MID-TERM EXAM
- November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break (No class)
- December 6/8: Oral exams for ASTR 700 students
- December 13: Last class meeting
- December 20: FINAL EXAM 10:45am-1:15pm in TH 425
Lectures: (numbers in parentheses are relevant chapters from the textbook)
- Lecture 1 - Introduction
- Lecture 2 - Coordinates, parallax,
distances (1.3, 3.1)
- Lecture 3 - Magnitude scale, light,
blackbody radiation, temperature (3.2, 3.3, 3.4)
- Lecture 4 - Energy, color index, extinction (3.5, 3.6)
- Lecture 5 - Spectral lines (5.1, 5.2, 5.3)
- Lecture 6 - Stellar classification (8.1)
- Lecture 7 - Binary stars, stellar mass (7.1, 7.2)
- Lecture 8 - Binary stars, stellar radii (7.3, 7.4)
- Lecture 9 - The H-R diagram (8.2)
- Lecture 10 - Telescopes & spectrographs (6)
- Lecture 11 - Solar interior (11.1)
- Eric Mamajek Solar Data
- Lecture 12 - Solar atmosphere, cycle, sunspots (11.2, 11.3)
- Lecture 13 - Faint young Sun, climate change (11.1, 13.1)
- Zan Stine's lecture slides
- Lecture 14 - Stellar atmospheres (9.1, 9.2)
- Lecture 15 - Stellar atmospheres (9.3, 9.4)
- Lecture 16 - Stellar atmospheres (9.5)
- Lecture 17 - Stellar interiors (10.1, 10.2, 10.3)
- Lecture 18 - Stellar interiors (10.4, 10.5, 10.6)
- Lecture 19 - Stellar evolution (13.1,
13.2, 13.3)
- Lecture 20 - Stellar pulsations (14.1, 14.2)
- Lecture 21 - Stellar pulsations (14.3, 14.4, 14.5)
- Lecture 22 - Supernovae (15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5)
- Lecture 23 - White dwarfs, Neutron stars, Black holes (16, 17)
- Lecture 24 - Summary!
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Assessment:
- Homework (50%/40%): There will be seven homeworks during
the semester and the lowest homework score will be dropped. Most
problems will require analytic solutions, however there will usually
be one problem per assignment that will involve graphing and
numerical solution with computer software such as Mathematica,
MATLAB, or any programming language. Homeworks for those enrolled in
ASTR 700 will have additional questions and are worth 40% (instead
of 50%) due to the oral exam component (see below).
- Mid-Term Exam (25%): There will be one mid-term exam held
approximately in the middle of the semester which will examine
material covered in the first half of the course. This will be held
in class and is closed book. Exam dates are listed in the
``Important Dates'' section, please take note and arrive on time. If
you arrive after someone else has finished the exam, you may not
take that exam.
- Oral Exam (10%): Those enrolled in ASTR 700 are required to
prepare and give a ~20 minute seminar-type presentation in the
last week of class. The topics for these presentations should be
chosen by the students, in consultation with the instructor, and
should be finalized by the time of the mid-term exam. They should be
related to the stellar / nebular / radiation astrophysics topics
covered in class, but clearly go beyond the class content.
- Final Exam (25%): The final exam will test on all material
covered during the semester. Exam dates are listed in the
``Important Dates'' section, please take note and arrive on time. If
you arrive after someone else has finished the exam, you may not
take that exam.
Final Grades:
- A = 90% to 100%
- B = 77% to 89%
- C = 65% to 76%
- D = 50% to 64%
- F = below 50%
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