ASTR 222 - Galaxies and Cosmology

Spring 2018, T/Th 10:00-11:15
Instructor: Professor Chris Mihos

Email: mihos@case.edu
Office: Sears 557
Office Hours: drop in or by appointment
 Teaching Assistant: Joe Curro
Email: jjc188@case.edu
Office: Sears 561
Office Hours: M 11:30-12:30, W 3:15-4:15

Course Website:

http://burro.case.edu/Academics/Astr222/

Textbooks: There are no required textbooks, but supplemental readings will come from:

Other Help Sources:

Grading Policies:

Homeworks can be discussed collaboratively, but each person must turn in their own solutions with unique writeup/analysis. Collaborative means talking with each other about approaches, techniques, etc. Collaborative does not mean sitting side-by-side working out the answers, or swapping final solutions to copy!

Homework will be accepted in hardcopy form only -- no electronic/email submissions. Assignments are due at 4:00pm on the due date unless otherwise noted.

Late HW policy: You get one free late homework (up to one week late), no questions asked. After that, it's a penalty of 20% for every day late, unless you have an prearranged, excused reason.

Missed test policy: Don't miss tests. If you are ill or have some other critical reason for missing a test, you must let me know in advance of the test, and document the reason through Undergrad Studies.

Grade Weights:

Homework
 40%
Midterm #1
 15%
Midterm #2
 15%
Final Exam
 30%

Due Dates:

(subject to change...)
HW #1
 Jan 30
HW #2
 Feb 15
Midterm #1
 Feb 27
HW #3
 Mar 8
Mar 9, 3pm
HW #4
 Apr 3
Apr 5
Midterm #2
 Apr 12
HW #5
 Apr 24
 May 1
(any late HW must be in by May 4!)
Final Exam
 take home, open notes
available May 1;
due 4pm on May 7





Grading Scale:

A
 90-100
B
 80-89
C
 70-79
D
 55-69
F
 <55


Learning Outcomes

After taking this course, students should be able to:
  • Describe the structure and kinematics of the Milky Way galaxy.
  • Understand techniques for determining distances both within our Galaxy and to other galaxies.
  • Characterize the properties of galaxies of different morphological type.
  • Describe how galaxies cluster in the universe.
  • Understand the kinematic scaling relationships for galaxies of different types.
  • Explain how galaxy interactions drive evolution in galaxies and clusters.
  • Describe the various cosmological parameters and their effect on the expansion history of the Universe.
  • Derive quantitative relationships for the expansion history of the universe.
  • Describe qualitatively the evolution of the hot big bang model.
  • Describe the growth of structure and the evolution of galaxies as a function of cosmic time.
  • Describe current galaxy formation models.
  • Retrieve and use online datasets to study our Galaxy and other galaxies.
  • Write quantitative computational tools to analyse astronomical datasets.

Schedule and Content
(all subject to change)

Date Topic Reading
Jan 16 Introduction to the Milky Way, Star Counts
 K: 16.1
CO: 24.1
Jan 18 Size of the Milky Way
Distances to Stars
 K: 2.6, 3.5, 10.2, 13.1, 13.4, 14.2
CO: 3.1, 12.1, 13.3, 14.1
Jan 23
 Variable Stars: Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars
Metallicity and Stellar Populations
Jan 25 Structure of the Milky Way: Disk, Bulge
Face-on Milky Way schematic
The Galactic Halo
 K: 16.1
CO: 24.2
Jan 30
 The Interstellar Medium,
Multiwavelength Milky Way (with helpful finder chart!)
Solar Motion

 K:14.4, 16.4
CO: 12.1, 24.3
http://www.chromoscope.net/
Feb 1
 The Velocities of Stars

 K: 16.2, 16.3
CO: 24.3
Feb 6
 Discussion of HW #1 and HW #2
Feb 8
 Galactic Rotation and Dark Matter

 K: 16.2, 16.3, 16.6
CO: 24.3, 24.4
Feb 13
 The Galactic Center, The Central Object K: 16.6
CO: 24.4
Feb 15 Environment: Satellite Galaxies and the Local Group
Intro to Galaxies: The Great Debate
Galaxies: Morphology of Galaxies, General Properties
 K: 17.1-17.3
CO: 25.1-25.3
Feb 20
 Galaxies: Stellar Populations and Stellar Mass-to-Light Ratios
Feb 22
 Discussion of HW #2, Stellar Pop mixing, Filters, Colors, spectra.
Feb 27
 Midterm Exam #1 (covering material up to and including Feb 20)
Mar 1
 Disk Galaxies: Kinematic Properties
Discussion of HW #3; statistics and error propagation
 K: 17.1.2
CO: 25.2
Error propagation
Mar 6
 Disk Galaxies: Photometric Properties
 K: 17.1.2
CO: 25.2
Mar 8
 Disk Galaxies: Spiral Structure
Elliptical Galaxies: Structure and Stellar Populations
 		K: 17.1
CO: 25.4
Mar 13
 Spring Break - no class
Mar 15 Spring Break - no class
Mar 20
 Elliptical Galaxies: Kinematics
Peculiar Galaxies: Starbursts
Extragalactic Distances and Hubble's Law
 CO 25.4, 27.2
K 19.1-19.6
Mar 22
 Discussion of HW#3 and HW#4
Mar 27 Peculiar Galaxies: Interactions
Active Galaxies and Quasars 		CO: 26.1, 28.1-28.2
K 19.2-19.6
Mar 29 Active Galaxies and Quasars
Galaxy Clusters and Large Scale Structure 		CO 28.1-28.2, 27.3
K 18.1-19.2
Apr 3
 The Expanding Universe CO 27.2, 29.1
K 18.3, 20.2
Apr 5
 The Age of the Universe: first attempt
The Microwave Background 		CO 29.1, 29.2
K 20.3, 21.1
Apr 10
 Observational Cosmology with Supernovae
The Cosmological Constant
 CO 29.1, 29.2
K 20.2-20.4
Apr 12
 Midterm Exam #2
(covering material through Microwave Background)
Apr 17
 The Growth of Primordial Fluctuations
Hot and Cold Dark Matter,
Structure Formation
 CO 30.2
K 21.4
Apr 19
 Cosmological Models: Observational Constraints
Ages and Lookback Times
The Early Universe: Inflation, BBN, and Recombination
 CO 30.1, 30.2
Apr 24
 The Early Universe: Inflation, BBN, and Recombination
Observing the High Redshift Universe

Apr 26
 Galaxy Formation (Theory)
Galaxy Formation (Observational)
 K 21.4.3
CO 26.2
May 1-7
 Final Exam: take home, open notes
Available May 1; due back no later than 4pm on May 7



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