Astronomy 294 - Winter Quarter 2008
Life in the Universe

Prof. Scott Gaudi - MWF 1:30-2:18pm - 1008 McPherson Lab

Unit 4: Life in the Universe [February 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29, March 3]

Lecture 1: Stars: Masses, Luminosities, and Temperatures [Feb 18]

Lecture 2: Stars: Habitable Zones, Lifetimes, and Other Considerations [Feb 20]

Lecture 3: Our Neighborhood: Nearby Stars, Stellar Populations, and the Galaxy [Feb 22]

Lecture 4: Other Solar Systems [Feb 25]

Lecture 5: The Pale Blue Dot [Feb 27]

Lecture 6: The Drake Equation and The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence [Feb 29]

Lecture 7: Interstellar Travel, the Fermi Paradox and the Rare Earth Hypothesis [Mar 3]

Related Readings in Life in the Universe

Lecture 1: Chapter 11.1, 11.4

Lecture 2: Chapter 11.1

Lecture 3: Chapters 11.3

Lecture 4: Chapters 11.2

Lecture 5: Chapters 11.2

Lecture 6: Chapters 12.1-12.3

Lecture 7: Chapters 13.1-13.4

Lecture 8: Chapters 11.3, 13.3

Further Reading for Unit 4

The Search for Life in the Universe by Donald Goldsmith and Tobias Owen: Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20, 22

Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach by Jonathan I. Lunine: Chapters 15, 17

The links to the lectures provide outlines of the material covered in each class. In some cases they have additional text and links covering supplemental material or graphics. I will attempt to make the online lecture notes are made available starting the week in which the lectures occur, but some notes may not be accessible until later in the week for various reasons.

Please feel free to print out copies of these lecture outlines in advance of class, so you can follow along with the lecture. Many students find this helps them listen without the pressure of taking down detailed notes of their own, but while still making additional notes in the margins to highlight particularly emphasized points.

See A Note about Graphics to learn why some of the graphics shown in the lectures are not reproduced with these notes.

Students looking to explore these topics further using the Internet might want to look at Prof. Richard Pogge's Selected Astronomical Internet Links for this unit.

[ Return to the Astronomy 294 Main Page | Go forward to Unit 5 ]

Updated: 2006 December 27
Copyright © Scott Gaudi All Rights Reserved.