ASTR 253
Galactic Astrophysics

Spring 2004

MWF, 1:10-2:00 PM, Stevenson Center 6105.

M3, taken with the 14" Bergquist Telescope at Dyer Observatory, 2004-February-13

Prof. Robert Knop
SC 6912
2-6165
robert.a.knop@vanderbilt.edu rknop@pobox.com

Office Hours: Tu 10:00-11:00; W 2:00-4:00; Th 10:00-11:00

Syllabus

Available in PDF format. Current revision is Revision 3 (2003/01/20); make sure the one you're working from is up-to-date.

Reading Questions

Click here to respond to reading questions, or to review your earlier answers.

Mailing List

A mailing list for the class. I will send out announcements to this list. You may also post to it if there is something you wish to discuss with me and the rest of the class in E-mail. (Everyone in the class is subscribed to this list.)

Textbook

The textbook for the course is Galactic Astrophysics by Sparke & Gallagher. You can find errata for the book at the authors' page: http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~sparke/book/galaxybook.html. These errata are important!

In-Class Group Problems

Below are the group problems that you've done in class, together with solutions I've written up. Feel free to challenge me if you think one of my solutions is wrong.

• Set 1 (Jan 23): Problems – Solutions
• Set 2 (Jan 30): Problems – Solutions
• Set 3 (Feb 6): Problems – Solutions
• Set 4 (Feb 13): Problems – Solutions
• Set 5 (Feb 20): Problems – Solutions
• Feb 27: See Review Exam 1 below
• Set 6 (Mar 22 and Apr 2): Problems – Solutions
• Apr 9: See Review Exam 2 below

Problem Sets

• Problem Set 1 – Solutions.

• Problem Set 2 – Solutions.

• Problem Set 3 – Solutions.

Exams

• Exam 1: Monday, March 1

  • Exam Topics
  • Review Exam – Solutions

• Exam 2: Monday, April 12

  • Review Exam – Solutions

• Final Exam: Saturday, May 1

  • Review Final – Solutions

Toys

Spiral Galaxy Rotator: see what would happen to the spiral arms in a galaxy given the differential rotation of the galaxy if arms were "material" arms.