Class Outline

Unit 1: The Galaxy

Structure
Intro to the Galaxy
Using Star Counts
Measuring Distances in the Milky Way
The Size of the Milky Way
Metallicity and Stellar Populations
The Disk
The Interstellar Medium
The Bulge
The Stellar Halo

Kinematics
Solar Motion
Velocities of Stars
Galactic Rotation
Dark Matter
The Galactic Center
The Galactic Center
Zooming in on Sag A*
What the hell is that thing?
The Galaxy's Environment
Companions and the Local Group
The Formation of the Milky Way

Unit 2: Other Galaxies

Introduction to Galaxies
The Great Debate
Galaxy Morphology
General Properties
Spiral Galaxies
General Properties
Stellar Populations and Spectral Synthesis
Spiral Structure
Barred Galaxies
Elliptical Galaxies
Structure
Stellar Populations
Kinematics
Peculiar Galaxies
Starburst Galaxies
Interacting Galaxies
Galaxy Evolution
Quasars and Active Galaxies

Unit 3: Cosmology and the Universe

The Universe on Large Scales
The Extragalactic Distance Scale
Galaxy Clusters and Large Scale Structure
Cosmological Models
The Expanding Universe
The Dynamics of an Expanding Universe
Curved Spacetime
The Density Parameter
Observational Cosmology
The Age of the Universe
Geometrical Tests of Cosmology
Using Supernovae to Study Cosmology
The Cosmological Constant
Ages and Lookback Times
The Big Bang and Early Universe
The Microwave Background
Motivating Inflation
The Early Universe
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
Recombination
Building the Universe
The Growth of Primordial Density Fluctuations
Dark Matter -- Hot and Cold
Hierarchical Structure Formation
Testing the Picture
Galaxy Formation and Evolution