Undergraduate Course: Astrophysics (PHYS10102)

Course Outline
School	School of Physics and Astronomy	College	College of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate)	Availability	Available to all students
SCQF Credits	20	ECTS Credits	10
Summary	This 20pt, Level 10 course is a core course for all Astrophysics students in S1 of Senior Honours. It is designed to be accessible to students in all other degree programmes within the School of Physics & Astronomy. With content similar to the previous Astrophysics 3 course, and working from the premise of no prior astrophysics experience/knowledge, students are introduced to the key concepts of observational astronomy, the basic properties of stars and their evolution, the interactions of stars with their galactic surroundings and the resulting ionized interstellar medium. The second half of the course considers the properties of galaxies, starting with our own Milky Way, then external galaxies, active galactic nuclei, dynamics of star clusters, the galaxy luminosity function, and galactic clustering. The course is self-contained, but is also intended to link naturally with the 10pt, level 10 course in Cosmology which follows in semester 2. Taken together, these two courses should provide students with a solid, balanced, physics-based understanding of the structure of our Universe, and our place within space and time.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites	Students MUST have passed: ( Modern Physics (PHYS08045) OR Classical and Modern Physics (PHYS08044)) AND Thermal Physics (PHYS09061)	Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 40, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Revision Session Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 131 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 100 %, Coursework 0 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	100% exam
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)	Astrophysics		3:00

Academic year 2015/16, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 40, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Revision Session Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 131 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 100 %, Coursework 0 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	100% exam
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)	Astrophyiscs		3:00

Learning Outcomes
Apply knowledge of core concepts in physics to astrophysical properties of stars and galaxies; Formulate solutions to problems in astrophysics involving new concepts with limited guidance; Demonstrate knowledge of the frontiers of the discipline, for example, through cases where current theories fail to explain a set of observational data; Locate and make use of detailed information on current topics in astrophysics in the primary research literature; *Summarise current thinking in astrophysics in a variety of written and oral forms, both alone and in collaboration with others.