Programme

Topics Part A

• Coordinates and Telescopes
• Elements of Spectroscopy
• Stars and Stellar Evolution • Galaxies
• Active Galactic Nuclei


Program Part A

• Overview

• Celestial coordinates (1.3)

• Telescopes and resolving power (6.1)

• Parallax distance (3.1)

• Flux, brightness, apparent and absolute magnitudes, colors (3.2, 3.3, 3.6)

• The black body (3.4, 3.5)

• Hertzsprung-Russel diagram (8.2)

• Open and globular clusters: position, stellar populations and HR diagram (13.3)

• White dwarfs, Novae and SuperNovae (notes and partly in 15 and 16)

• The classification of galaxies (24.1)

• The rotation curve of galaxies and dark matter (25.3)

• The center of the Galaxy and its Black Hole (25.4)

• Hubble's law and expansion of the Universe (27.2)

• Probability of collision between stars and galaxies (handouts)

• Black Holes: outline of General Relativity (outline 17)

• Active Galactic Nuclei (28.1, 28.2, 28.3)


Topics Part B

• Structure and stellar evolution
• Elements of Spectroscopy
• Distances and expansion of the Universe • Galaxies
• GRB and gravitational waves

Program Part B

• Acretion disks and X-ray emission in Active Galactic Nuclei (28.2)

• Stars of Neutrons and Pulsars (16.6, 16.7)

• Gamma Ray Bursts (handouts)

• Gravitational Waves (lecture notes)

• Spectroscopy: eq. Boltzmann-excitation and Saha-ionization (8.1)

• Spectroscopy: speed, temperature and density measurements (handouts)

• Eq. of star structure, time and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (11.1-4)

• Nuclear reactions of hydrogen (11.3)

• Jeans mass of gravitational collapse, free-fall time and Initial Mass Function (12.2, 12.3)

• The Milky Way and the local group (25.1, 25.2)

• Metallicity (25.2)

• Transit of Venus and measurement of the Earth-Sun distance (handouts)

• Distance scale (27.1)

• Hubble's law and expansion of the Universe (27.2)

• Local Group, Clusters of Galaxies, large scale structure of the Universe (27.3)

• The Big Bang and the background radiation (29.2 brief notes and lecture notes)

Core Documentation

A copy of the lecture notes can be downloaded from the course website.

In brackets, the paragraphs from “An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, II ed. - B.W. Carrol, D.A. Ostlie - Ed. Pearson, Addison Wesley ”(copies available in the library). The discussion in the course has been simplified compared to what is reported in the text. Alternative text in Italian: Attilio Ferrari, Stars, Galaxies, Universe - Fundamentals of Astrophysics - Ed. Springer

Type of delivery of the course

traditional classroom lessons

Type of evaluation

Type of exam: Orally present a topic of your choice and answer some questions about the rest of the program. Typical questions will consist of asking to explain one of the other topics listed in the program.

Programme

Topics Part A

• Coordinates and Telescopes
• Elements of Spectroscopy
• Stars and Stellar Evolution • Galaxies
• Active Galactic Nuclei


Program Part A

• Overview

• Celestial coordinates (1.3)

• Telescopes and resolving power (6.1)

• Parallax distance (3.1)

• Flux, brightness, apparent and absolute magnitudes, colors (3.2, 3.3, 3.6)

• The black body (3.4, 3.5)

• Hertzsprung-Russel diagram (8.2)

• Open and globular clusters: position, stellar populations and HR diagram (13.3)

• White dwarfs, Novae and SuperNovae (notes and partly in 15 and 16)

• The classification of galaxies (24.1)

• The rotation curve of galaxies and dark matter (25.3)

• The center of the Galaxy and its Black Hole (25.4)

• Hubble's law and expansion of the Universe (27.2)

• Probability of collision between stars and galaxies (handouts)

• Black Holes: outline of General Relativity (outline 17)

• Active Galactic Nuclei (28.1, 28.2, 28.3)


Topics Part B

• Structure and stellar evolution
• Elements of Spectroscopy
• Distances and expansion of the Universe • Galaxies
• GRB and gravitational waves

Program Part B

• Acretion disks and X-ray emission in Active Galactic Nuclei (28.2)

• Stars of Neutrons and Pulsars (16.6, 16.7)

• Gamma Ray Bursts (handouts)

• Gravitational Waves (lecture notes)

• Spectroscopy: eq. Boltzmann-excitation and Saha-ionization (8.1)

• Spectroscopy: speed, temperature and density measurements (handouts)

• Eq. of star structure, time and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (11.1-4)

• Nuclear reactions of hydrogen (11.3)

• Jeans mass of gravitational collapse, free-fall time and Initial Mass Function (12.2, 12.3)

• The Milky Way and the local group (25.1, 25.2)

• Metallicity (25.2)

• Transit of Venus and measurement of the Earth-Sun distance (handouts)

• Distance scale (27.1)

• Hubble's law and expansion of the Universe (27.2)

• Local Group, Clusters of Galaxies, large scale structure of the Universe (27.3)

• The Big Bang and the background radiation (29.2 brief notes and lecture notes)

Core Documentation

A copy of the lecture notes can be downloaded from the course website.

In brackets, the paragraphs from “An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, II ed. - B.W. Carrol, D.A. Ostlie - Ed. Pearson, Addison Wesley ”(copies available in the library). The discussion in the course has been simplified compared to what is reported in the text. Alternative text in Italian: Attilio Ferrari, Stars, Galaxies, Universe - Fundamentals of Astrophysics - Ed. Springer

Type of delivery of the course

traditional classroom lessons

Type of evaluation

Type of exam: Orally present a topic of your choice and answer some questions about the rest of the program. Typical questions will consist of asking to explain one of the other topics listed in the program.