Lecture Notes
Lecture notes (outlines) will be provided here prior to each class day. I will try to stay approximately 1/2 week ahead of schedule. As described in the syllabus, these lecture notes are intended as a detailed outline of what I intend to cover. They are not a substitute for attending the lectures.
They are provided as a study guide for quizzes and the final, for reference on the homeworks, and as a tool for following the lectures during class. Many students find it useful to print the lecture notes ahead of time and then take notes in the margins during classtime.
Note that many of the links below may be inactive, but will become active approximately 2-4 days before classtime.
Week 1: Introduction
Jan 5 : Introduction to 162: Stars, Galaxies, & The Universe
Jan 6 : The Nature of Light
Jan 7 : The Interaction of Light with Matter
Jan 8 : Matter & Gravity
Jan 9 : Distances to Stars
Week 2: Stars
Jan 12 : Stellar Motions
Jan 13 : Binaries
Jan 14 : Stellar Colors, Temperature Sequence
Jan 15 : The Hertzprung-Russell Diagram
Jan 16 : The Internal Structure of Stars; Homework #1 due
Week 3: Stars
Jan 19 : No class; MLK Day
Jan 20 : The Sun
Jan 21 : Energy Generation, Thermal Equilibrium
Jan 22 : Star Formation
Jan 23 : In-Class Quiz #1
Week 4: Stars
Jan 26 : The Main Sequence
Jan 27 : The Evolution of Low-Mass Stars
Jan 28 : All classes cancelled at OSU due to weather
Jan 29 : The Evolution of High-Mass Stars
Jan 30 : Supernovae
Week 5: Stars & Galaxies
Feb 2 : Neutron Stars & White Dwarfs; Homework #2 due
Feb 3 : Black Holes
Feb 4 : Tests of Stellar Evolution
Feb 5 : The Distance Problem
Feb 6 : In-Class Quiz #2 (Study guide here); No Lecture
Week 6: Galaxies
Feb 9 : The Milky Way
Feb 10 : Spiral Galaxies
Feb 11 : The Milky Way & Andromeda
Feb 12 : Spiral Galaxies
Feb 13 : The Galaxy Zoo
Week 7: Galaxies & Cosmology
Feb 16 : Groups & Clusters of Galaxies; Homework #3 due
Feb 17 : Interacting Galaxies
Feb 18 : Active Galactic Nuclei & Quasars
Feb 19 : Review for Quiz #3
Feb 20 : In-Class Quiz #3; No lecture
Week 8: Cosmology
Feb 23 : Special Relativity
Feb 24 : General Relativity
Feb 25 : Cosmology & Einstein
Feb 26 : Expanding Universe
Feb 27 : The Cosmic Distance Scale
Week 9: Cosmology
Mar 2 : The Big Bang
Mar 3 : Tests of the Big Bang; Homework #4 due
Mar 4 : Cosmic TImeline, The Early Universe
Mar 5 : The Fate of the Universe
Mar 6 : In-Class Quiz #4; No Lecture
Week 10: Cosmology & Frontiers in Modern Astrophysics
Mar 9 : Dark Matter & Dark Energy
Mar 10 : Time Travel & Wormholes
Mar 11 : The Future Sun
Mar 12 : Life in the Universe
Mar 13 : Life in the Universe, Review; Homework #5 due
Final Exam: March 17; 11:30am - 1:18pm