Astrophysics 3 (VS2) (U03505)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : PHY-3-VS2Ap3

A broad introduction of the extragalactic universe. The
course covers the properties of our own Galaxy, the basic properties and evolution of other galaxies, the large scale structure of the Universe and the properties and physics of active galactic nuclei.

Entry Requirements

? This course is only available to part year visiting students.

? This course is a variant of the following course : U03212

? Pre-requisites : Year 2 Physics and Mathematics

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Undergraduate (School of Physics), (School of Physics, Schedule Q)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	12:10	13:00	Other
Lecture	Friday	12:10	13:00	Other

? Additional Class Information : Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged.

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, it is intended that the student will be able to :

1) Describe in quantitative detail the morphology, content, structure and dynamics of the Milky Way and external galaxies.
2) Derive the basic formulae used to determine the velocity structure of the Milky Way, and to quantitatively describe the internal dynamics of stellar systems in general.
3) Explain how the masses of galaxies are deduced and how the distances to galaxies are established via the cosmological distance ladder.
4) Understand the physics of active galactic nuclei and be able to calculate order-of-magnitude estimates for key physical quantities.
5) Provide a quantitative description of the galaxy population at large, including galaxy number counts, luminosity functions, and clustering.
6) Describe in quantitative detail the evidence for an expanding and evolving Universe. Be able to derive and solve the basic equations describing the dynamics of the expansion.