Galaxies and Cosmology

Catalog description

This course is the second of two in a sequence covering introductory astronomy and astrophysics at an intermediate level. Throughout the course, an emphasis will be placed on data analysis and interpretation using real astronomical data and the Python programming language. This course is intended, designed, and required for Astronomy majors and minors. Topics covered include: the Milky Way; galaxy disks, bulges, halos, and interstellar media; metallicity and stellar populations; stellar velocities, rotation, and the solar motion; the Galactic center; the Local Group; galaxy morphology and classification; disk galaxies and spiral arms; elliptical, lenticular, dwarf, and irregular galaxies; integrated stellar populations and mass-to-light ratios; peculiar and interacting galaxies; active galaxies and quasars; galaxy clusters; galaxy formation and evolution; large-scale structure; Hubble's Law; the extragalactic distance scale; the expansion and age of the Universe; the cosmic microwave background; cosmological models; the early universe and inflation; particle production, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and recombination. Prereq: ASTR 221 .