|
Welcome to Astro 405/505 for Fall 2002!
Instructors: Prof. Steven Kawaler and Prof. David Carter-Lewis
| 
|
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
From the course catalog:
Astro 405. Astrophysics (Dual-listed with 505.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 342 or 346; Math 266.
Survey of astrophysics at an advanced level.
Physics of stars, galaxies, and the universe. Stellar spectra, structure
and evolution. Origin of the elements. Black holes, neutron stars and white
dwarfs. Large scale structure of the universe, dark matter, Big Bang
Cosmology.
We meet at 3:10-4:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in Room 43 Physics.
Current Stuff
Recent Stuff
- Iben's Review of Stellar Evolution
- Homework 4: Due Friday, October 18, 2002
- C&O Problem 13.11
- C&O Problem 13.13
- C&O Problem 14.13 - a computer problem
- The pulsating subdwarf B star PG1336 (remember that one from earlier
in the course?) can also be modeled using the same code you wrote for
problem 14.13. So, use that code to calculate the pulsations of a star
with
You will have to adjust the mass of the shell (m) and the
initial pressure Pi to result in a periodic
behavior of v, r, and P (use the same initial
velocity as in 14.13).
You will also need to adjust the time step that you use so that
the 150 steps show about 4 full cycles. Think about how to do
this rather than just trying to blindly guess numbers.
- Homeworke 3: Due 27 September
- Homework #2: was due Friday, September 13, 2002.
Problems are from Carroll & Ostlie:
- Problem 8-12
- Problem 8-14
- Problem 8-16
- Problem 9-7
- Problem 9-11
- Rogers
and Iglesias review paper on astrophysical opacities
- Homework 1: Due 4 September
- Images and sources from week 1
Resources: Textbook
An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics by
Brad Carroll and
Dale Ostlie,
published by Addison Wesley
available at the University Bookstore for about $130 (new), or about $90
(used). You can also probably find it for less (and maybe significantly less)
at used book sites such as
AddAll.
Be sure to get the thick one (orange cover, over 1400 pages) and NOT
the '... Stellar Astrophysics' version. Good luck!
Resources: Journals
As seniors and graduate students, you should be able to read the 'technical'
literature of any physical science and at least glean some things of interest
(assuming you can get through the jargon of the field). To that end, we
include links to the main journals of astronomy - have a glance occasionally
at the current online journals to see how the field is doing! All are
available from ISU-based computers via the WWW.
- The
Astrophysical Journal - the premier journal of astrophysics. Papers
in the "ApJ" can be purely theoretical, or purely observational, but most lie
somewhere in between. The "ApJ" consists of three separate publications:
the main Journal, the ApJ Letters which are short papers of
high interest that get published rapidly, and the ApJ
Supplement which contains longer papers (frequently catalogs and
other reference papers). In addtion, the ApJ publishes occasional CD-ROMs as
part of the Supplement.
- The
Astronomical Journal - the premier journal of observational
astronomy. "AJ" papers concentrate on observations, with limited
interpretation, but there is no hard and fast rule.
- Astronomy and
Astrophysics - another top journal, concentrating on European
research (though I publish there because there are no page charges!).
The Europeans have it right - no distinction between astronomy and
astrophysics - it is all there. Includes a 'Letters' section that contains
short papers with rapid turnaround within the same covers. Much more
material on stellar astrophysics than the ApJ.
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- the main journal for British astronomy, it also publishes papers from
astronomers around the world. A top journal.
- Annual Reviews of
Astronomy and Astrophysics - authoritative reviews from experts
in a wide variety of subjects - uniformly excellent papers, and a good "first
place to go" when exploring a new field within astronomy.
- Other Journals - other smaller journals are more specialized in
topic or approach. For example,
Publications
of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (or PASP) has frequent
papers on astronmical instrumentation, and dissertation abstracts.
Icarus is the premier journal for solar
system/planetary astronomy. Nature, Science, and
Scientific American frequently have important astrophysics
papers of broad intrest. Etc., etc.
- Online access to the literature- In addition to the above
journal links, most of the literature is available for indexed searches by
author, keyword, and object via the
NASA Astrophysics
Data Service - an incredibly useful resource that I use at least 5 times
a day. Also, there is a heavily used
Preprint Server
through arXiv.org - nearly all astronomy preprints are posted there before
publication. Also well indexed.
Web materials
Here's the course syllabus
Consider a spherical cow...
Need to send e-mail? Try our e-mail address:
sdk@iastate.edu
dalewis@iastate.edu
