"From Black Holes to undiscovered worlds" - a journey through our fascinating universe. Ever wondered about the universe? What you see in the night sky? How stars get born and how they die? How Black Holes work? And if there is life out there in the universe? Join us for a journey through our fascinating universe from Black Holes to undiscovered worlds through the newest discoveries. We are made of stardust. Ad Astra.  

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 1101 - From New Worlds to Black Holes

Provides a "hands-on" introduction to observational astronomy intended for liberal arts students. High school mathematics is assumed, but otherwise there are no formal prerequisites. The course objective is to learn how we know what we know about the Universe, and to learn how to observe with moderate cost amateur telescopes. There are two lectures and one evening laboratory per week. Typically, labs consist of 4-5 observing sessions using the Fuertes Observatory 12" telescope and a set of Meade 8" telescopes, a trip to Mount Pleasant to look through its 25" telescope and, on cloudy nights, 4-5 in-class experiments, the highlight of which is collecting micrometeorites for study.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 1195 - Observational Astronomy

Writing course designed to develop an understanding of modern solar system exploration. Discussion will center on describing our home planet as a member of a diverse family of objects in our solar system. In addition to studying what we have learned of other planets and satellites from unmanned spacecraft, we will also discuss the missions themselves and describe the process of how they are selected and developed. Guest lecturers will include political advocacy experts, NASA officials, and science team members of active NASA/ESA missions. Participants will study, debate, and learn to write critically about important issues in science and public policy that benefit from this perspective. Topics discussed include space policy, the potential for life in the ocean worlds of the outer solar system, the search for extrasolar planets and extraterrestrial intelligence, and the exploration of Mars.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 2202 - A Spacecraft Tour of the Solar System: Science, Policy and Exploration

Course surveying the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang onwards: what happens in the first few minutes of the universe's life; star formation, structure, and evolution; the physics of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; galaxy formation and structure; and cosmology. The roles of quantum physics, particle physics, and relativity in astrophysics are discussed (no prior knowledge of these is assumed). The course is more in-depth than ASTRO 1101. All course materials are made available online.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 2211 - Astronomy: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology

This course covers the formation and birth of stars, their lives on the main sequence and their evolution of the main sequence to their final end-states as white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS)

Full details for ASTRO 3302 - The Life of Stars: From Birth to Death

Introduces Mathematica and modern symbolic manipulator programs to students in quantitative disciplines. The course will cover language concepts, programming tools and techniques and draw examples from a wide variety of fields including mathematics, astronomy, physics, engineering, biology, statistics, finance, and the general topic of big data. For the final project the student will apply the capabilities to an individual area of interest. Both undergraduates and graduates may register.

Catalog Distribution: (SDS-AS, SMR-AS)

Full details for ASTRO 3340 - Symbolic and Numerical Computing

The course covers methods in optical and radio astronomy and selected topics in astrophysics. Major experiments use techniques chosen from charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging, optical photometry, optical spectroscopy, radiometry and radio spectroscopy. Observations use the Hartung-Boothroyd Observatory's 24-inch telescope and a 3.8-meter radio telescope on the roof of the Space Sciences Building. The course covers the fundamentals of astronomical instrumentation and data analysis applied to a wide range of celestial phenomena: asteroids, main-sequence stars, supernova remnants, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, the interstellar medium, OH masers, and galaxies. Methods include statistical data analysis, artifact and interference excision, Fourier transforms, heterodyned receivers, and software-defined radio.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS, SDS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 4410 - Multiwavelength Astronomical Techniques

Major topics include: the structure and evolution of stars; solar neutrino astronomy; stellar seismology; the physics of white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes; the physics of low mass stars and connection to planets. Basic ideas in atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, nuclear and particle physics, fluid mechanics and general relativity are introduced in a practical fashion that emphasizes concepts useful for understanding astrophysical phenomena.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 4431 - Physics of Stars, Neutron Stars and Black Holes

One-semester introduction to general relativity that develops the essential structure and phenomenology of the theory without requiring prior exposure to tensor analysis. General relativity is a fundamental cornerstone of physics that underlies several of the most exciting areas of current research, including relativistic astrophysics, cosmology, and the search for a quantum theory of gravity. The course briefly reviews special relativity, introduces basic aspects of differential geometry, including metrics, geodesics, and the Riemann tensor, describes black hole spacetimes and cosmological solutions, and concludes with the Einstein equation and its linearized gravitational wave solutions. At the level of Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity by Hartle.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS, SMR-AS) (CHPH-AG, OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 4445 - Introduction to General Relativity

This course builds upon a review of probability and statistics, and basic signal processing principles to explore, develop, and apply algorithms for discovering objects and events in astronomical data, for inference of sophisticated models for populations of objects using frequentist and Bayesian methods, and for visualization and presentation of results to address fundamental questions using persuasive, data-based arguments. Methods include time-series analysis; clustering, classification algorithms, genetic and Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms, and neural networks with different architectures. Examples using simulated and actual data will be python based, including Jupyter notebooks.

Catalog Distribution: (PHS-AS, SDS-AS) (OPHLS-AG)

Full details for ASTRO 4523 - Modeling, Mining and Machine Learning in Astronomy

Individuals work on selected topics. A program of study is devised by the student and instructor.

Full details for ASTRO 4940 - Independent Study in Astronomy

Introduction to the study of the structure of galaxies via the laws of modern physics. Topics include the observed kinematics and spatial distribution of stars in the vicinity of the Sun, shapes and properties of stellar orbits, the gravitational N-body problem, collisional relaxation in stellar systems, spiral structure, galaxy classification and evolution, and cosmological results in galaxy formation.

Full details for ASTRO 6516 - Galactic Structure and Stellar Dynamics

This course builds upon a review of probability and statistics, and basic signal processing principles to explore, develop, and apply algorithms for discovering objects and events in astronomical data, for inference of sophisticated models for populations of objects using frequentist and Bayesian methods, and for visualization and presentation of results to address fundamental questions using persuasive, data-based arguments. Methods include time-series analysis; clustering, classification algorithms, genetic and Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms, and neural networks with different architectures. Examples using simulated and actual data will be python based, including Jupyter notebooks.

Full details for ASTRO 6523 - Modeling, Mining and Machine Learning in Astronomy

Major topics include: the structure and evolution of stars; solar neutrino astronomy; stellar seismology; the physics of white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes; the physics of low mass stars and connection to planets. Basic ideas in atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, nuclear and particle physics, fluid mechanics and general relativity are introduced in a practical fashion that emphasizes concepts useful for understanding astrophysical phenomena.

Full details for ASTRO 6560 - Physics of Stars, Neutron Stars and Black Holes

This course will provide an overview of fundamental physical processes that govern the structure and behavior of atmospheres in the solar system and beyond. Topics covered will include the basic principles of atmospheric statics, radiative transfer, dynamics, cloud physics, and chemistry to understand the diverse range of observable atmospheres.

Full details for ASTRO 6575 - Planetary Atmospheres

Guided reading and seminars on topics not currently covered in regular courses.

Full details for ASTRO 6940 - Advanced Study and Research

This course is a reading seminar where graduate students will gain astronomy breadth, practice public speaking, and distill important results from seminal astronomy research papers.

Full details for ASTRO 7683 - Seminar: Astronomy and Planetary Science

Covers numerical methods for ordinary and partial differential equations, linear algebra and eigenvalue problems, integration, nonlinear equations, optimization, and fast Fourier transforms. Find out how and why the "black-box" numerical routines you use work, how to improve and generalize them, and how to fix them when they don't. Based on the text Numerical Recipes by William H. Press, Saul A. Teukolsky, William T. Vetterling, and Brian P. Flannery.

Full details for ASTRO 7690 - Computational Physics