|
ASTR
323/423 - The Local Universe
Fall 2023
Instructor: Chris
Mihos (mihos@case.edu)
Course Time: T/Th 11:30-12:45
Office Hours: Feel free to stop
by any time (except T/Th mornings); my
door is usually open. If you want to be sure
I'll be in, send me an email and we can arrange
a specific time to meet.
Website: http://burro.case.edu/Academics/Astr323/
|
Course,
Assignment, and Grading Policies
Class attendance is expected, as is on-time
arrival.
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!
There will also be assignments involving
computational/data analysis. The use of python
and astropy is highly
recommended.
For graduate students enrolled in ASTR 423,
there will be additional problems on the HW
sets. Graduate students must also earn a B or
better on each of the Homework and Midterm/Final
portions of the grade to earn a B or better for
a final course grade.
Homework must be turned in using the Canvas
course site, and is due at 5pm on the due date.
Homeworks must be submitted/uploaded as a single
pdf file -- all your answers, plots,
descriptions, math, etc should be written up as
a standalone, self-contained solution set. Do not
submit (or copy and paste from) jupyter
notebooks, you need to write your solution set
separately from your code.
You may upload your code if you wish, but it
will not be reviewed as part of the grading
process. I am happy to help you if you are
having problems with a coding solution, but I do
not grade code. Full
details on electronic submissions are given
here.
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.
|
Grade
Weights
Homework
|
50%
|
Midterm
|
20%
|
Final
|
30%
|
Grading Scheme
A
|
90-100
|
B
|
80-89
|
C
|
70-79
|
D
|
50-69
|
F
|
<50
|
In
addition, ASTR423 students must earn a
B or better in each of the HW and the
Midterm + Final portions of the
grade to earn a B or better in the
course.
|
|
Policy on the
usage of "AI" (Large Language Models)
The use of LLMs is strongly discouraged, for two
major reasons:
- One of the major purposes of coursework is
for you to learn how to find, use, and
evaluate primary source materials: online
data sites, scientific websites, published
scientific literature. LLMs are not primary
source material.
- LLMs are often very wrong, and have a
tendency to make up false information.
However, if you decide to use an LLM to help
with course assignments, you must
include the following in your writeup:
- State explicitly that you used an LLM, say
which one you used, and tell me the prompt
you gave it.
- Describe in detail the steps you took to
verify the answers you got from it, and
explain how accurate the answers were.
- If it was used for code, say which
pieces of the analysis used LLM coding and
describe in detail how that code worked.
|
Homework
Due Dates
(always 5pm deadline)
Tests
|
|
Useful Links:
|
Textbooks:
None required, but these
are all good sources and are available in
the Astronomy Library:
- Sparke & Gallagher: Galaxies
in the Universe
- Carroll &
Ostlie: An Introduction to
Modern Astrophyics
- Binney &
Merrifield: Galactic Astronomy
- Binney &
Tremaine: Galactic Dynamics
|
Schedule
and Content
(Future topics subject to change, just like
life.....)
#
|
Date
(Slides)
|
Topics
|
1
|
Aug 29
|
Course
Introduction; Astronomer's Toolbox
|
2
|
Aug 31
|
Stellar Pops:
Stellar evolution, metallicity, resolved stellar
pops,
stellar population synthesis
|
3
|
Sep 5
|
HW #1
Discussion, Part 1
Stellar Pops: modeling, color
evolution
Galaxy Pops: morphology and Hubble Type
SSP animation,
SFR animation
|
4
|
Sep 7
|
HW #1
Discussion, Part 2
Galaxy Pops: luminosity functions,
luminosity profiles (disk,
elliptical, composite)
|
5
|
Sep 12
|
Galaxy Pops:
Sersic Profiles, Distribution of Galaxy
Properties
from SDSS
The ISM of Galaxies: HI, molecular,
ionized gas
|
6
|
Sep 14
|
The ISM of
Galaxies: dust, hot X-ray gas
Star Form / Chem Evol: tracing star
formation in galaxies
|
7
|
Sep 19
|
Star Form /
Chem Evol: feedback, chemical evolution
Milky Way Stars: properties of stars:
spectral types, CMDs, parallax,
proper motion, stellar masses
|
8
|
Sep 21
|
Milky Way
Stars: star clusters, stellar ages,
metallicities, spectroscopic parallax
|
9
|
Sep 26
|
Milky Way
Stars: pulsating variables
Lecture
Video
|
10
|
Sep 28
|
Milky Way Structure and
Kinematics: overview and stellar
velocities
(McGaugh lecture)
|
11
|
Oct 3
|
Discussion of HW
#1 and HW #2
Milky Way Structure and Kinematics: Oort
Limit, metallicity distribution
|
12
|
Oct 5
|
Milky Way
Structure and Kinematics: thin and thick
disks, galactic center distance
Satellite galaxy merger movies: Top
view, side
view, sat
only, fly-around
|
13
|
|
Milky Way
Structure and Kinematics: Bulge/Bar and
Halo
Satellite Accretion movies: Johnston,
Bullock
& Johnston
|
14
|
Oct 12
|
Milky Way
Rotation and the Epicyclic Approximation
|
15
|
Oct 17
|
Milky Way
Rotation and the Epicyclic Approximation
Disk Galaxies: Structure and Content
|
16
|
Oct
19
|
Midterm Exam in class
(Midterm Study Questions)
|
--
|
Oct
24
|
Fall Break - No class
|
17
|
Oct 26
|
Disk Galaxies: Star
Formation and Kinematics
|
18
|
Oct 31
|
Disk Galaxies:
Tully-Fisher
Disk Galaxy Dynamics: Rotation curve
modeling and Spiral Structure
|
19
|
Nov 2
|
Disk Galaxy
Dynamics: Density Waves, Bars, Disk
Stability
Gas Flow in
Barred Galaxy movie
|
20
|
Nov 7
|
Election Day!!!
Elliptical Galaxies: Structure,
Stellar Populations, Gas Content
Elliptical Galaxies: Kinematics |
21
|
Nov 9
|
Elliptical
Galaxies: Kinematics, Fundamental Plane,
Orbits
|
22
|
Nov 14
|
Elliptical
Galaxies: Relaxation, Black Holes
|
23
|
Nov 16
|
Dynamical Friction
Notes
Elliptical Galaxies: Nuclei, Formation
models
|
24
|
Nov 21
|
Groups and
Clusters: Environment and Galaxy Evolution
|
--
|
Nov
23
|
Thanksgiving -
No class
|
25
|
Nov 28
|
Dwarf
Galaxies: General properties (McGaugh
Lecture)
|
26
|
Nov 30
|
Dwarf Galaxies:
Formation and Evolution
AGN: Discovery
|
27
|
Dec 5
|
AGN: Basic
Properties
|
28
|
Dec 7
|
AGN: The
AGN-Galaxy Connection
|
--
|
Dec 18
|
Final
Exam 12:00 - 3:00 (Final
Study Questions)
|
|
Accessibility Statement
In
accordance with federal law, if you have a
documented disability, you may be eligible to
request accommodations from Disability Resources. In order
to be considered for accommodations, you must
first register with the Disability Resources
office. Please
contact their office to register at 216.368.5230 or
get more
information on how to begin the process. Please
keep in mind that accommodations are not
retroactive.
Academic
Integrity Statement
Students
at Case Western Reserve University are expected to
uphold the highest ethical standards of academic
conduct. Academic integrity addresses all forms of
academic dishonesty, including cheating,
plagiarism, misrepresentation, obstruction, and
submitting without permission work to one course
that was completed for another course.
Please review the complete academic
integrity policy. Any violation of the
policy will be reported to the Dean of
Undergraduate Studies and the Office of Student
Conduct & Community Standards.
Learning
Outcomes:
After taking this course, students should be able to:
- Describe different morphological classification
systems for galaxies.
- Describe galaxy properties as a function of type.
- Derive quantitative relationships between a
galaxy's gravitational potential and the kinematics
of its stars.
- Understand the interplay between stars and the ISM
- Understand how stellar populations vary across
galaxy type, and how these stellar populations can
be used to infer the star forming histories of
galaxies.
- Quantitatively describe galaxy scaling
relationships.
- Explain the observational tools used to study
different components of galaxies: stars, dust, gas,
and dark matter.
- Describe the role of environment in shaping galaxy
populations
- Describe the unified model for AGN, and how AGN
are triggered.
- Use observational datasets to quantify the
structural and kinematic properties of galaxies.
- Use online data respositories to develop
statistical descriptions of galaxy populations.
|
