Sub-navigation links

VIEW ALL COURSES

Download Course Materials

Readings

This section contains documents that could not be made accessible to screen reader software. A "#" symbol is used to denote such documents.

Help support MIT OpenCourseWare by shopping at Amazon.com! MIT OpenCourseWare offers direct links to Amazon.com to purchase the books cited in this course. Click on the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book from Amazon.com, and MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of all purchases you make. Your support will enable MIT to continue offering open access to MIT courses.

Required Readings

Bohm-Vitense, Erika. Introduction to Stellar Astrophysics. 3 vols. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780521344029.

Binney, James, and Scott Tremaine. Galactic Dynamics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780691084442.

Clayton, Donald D. Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1983. ISBN: 9780226109534.

Hansen, Carl J., and Steven D. Kawaler. Stellar Interiors: Physical Principles, Structure, and Evolution. New York, NY: Springer, 2004. ISBN: 9780387200897.

Mihalas, Dimitri, and James Binney. Galactic Astronomy. San Francisco, CA: W.H. Freeman, 1981, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780716712800.

Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics

Shu, Frank H. The Physical Universe. Mill Valley, CA: University Science Books, 1982. ISBN: 9780935702057.

Schechter, Paul. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology (PDF)^#

Readings by Session

Course readings.
SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction Equatorial coordinates and sidereal time	Mihalas, Dimitri, and James Binney. Galactic Astronomy. San Francisco, CA: W.H. Freeman, 1981, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780716712800.
2	Galactic coordinates Distances to stars	Mihalas, Dimitri, and James Binney. Galactic Astronomy. San Francisco, CA: W.H. Freeman, 1981, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780716712800.
3	Magnitudes (apparent and absolute) and color indices	Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics. Chapters 2, 3.5, 4.1, and 4.2 through 4.2.5.
4	Spectral classification The Kepler problem	Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics. Chapters 2, 3.5, 4.1, and 4.2 through 4.2.5.
5	Parametric solution to Kepler	Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics. Chapters 2, 3.5, 4.1, and 4.2 through 4.2.5.
6	Masses of stars Mass radius relation	Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics. Chapters 2, 3.5, 4.1, and 4.2 through 4.2.5.
7	Guest lecture: Mass measurements for exoplanets and our black hole	Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics. Chapters 2, 3.5, 4.1, and 4.2 through 4.2.5.
8	Guest lecture: Telescopes	Press, William H. Introduction to Astrophysics. Chapters 2, 3.5, 4.1 and 4.2 through 4.2.5.
9	Polytropic stars	Clayton. Sections 2-4.
10	Classical and quantum statistics The Saha equation	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 7.1-7.2.2.
11	Equations of state Application of Lane-Emden solution: White dwarfs	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 7.1-7.2.2. Clayton. Sections 2-4.
12	Simple results for the sun and other stars	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 7.1-7.2.2. Clayton. Sections 2-4.
13	Radiative transport	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 3.1-3.5 and 7.1-7.2.
14	Opacities Scaling laws Convection	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 3.1-3.5 and 7.1-7.2.
15	Energy generation Coulomb penetration factor	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 3.1-3.5 and 7.1-7.2.
16	Nuclear "burning" in the sun and other stars	Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 3.1-3.5 and 7.1-7.2.
17	Evolution of stars of low, intermediate and high mass	Clayton. Section 4.3 through equation (4-62). Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 6.3-6.5.
18	Stellar atmospheres	Clayton. Section 4.3 through equation (4-62). Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 6.3-6.5.
19	Lines in stellar atmospheres	Clayton. Section 4.3 through equation (4-62). Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 6.3-6.5.
20	In-class exam
21	Introduction to the interstellar medium	Clayton. Section 4.3 through equation (4-62). Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 6.3-6.5. Bohm-Vitense. Vol. 2. Chapters 5, 6, and 10.
22	Photoionized nebulae (H II regions and planetaries)	Clayton. Section 4.3 through equation (4-62). Hansen, and Kawaler. Section 6.3-6.5. Bohm-Vitense. Vol. 2. Chapters 5, 6, and 10.
23	Supernovae and shocks	Clayton. Section 4.3 through equation (4-62). Hansen, and Kawaler. Sections 6.3-6.5. Bohm-Vitense. Vol. 2. Chapters 5, 6, and 10.
24	Adiabatic supernova shocks	Shu. The Physics of Astrophysics, Volume II: Gas Dynamics. Chapter 15 (pp. 214-217) and 17.
25	Galaxy morphology	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 1 and section 3.1.
26	Quantifiable properties of galaxies Collisional relaxation times	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 1 and section 3.1.
27	Collisionless Boltzmann equation (cartesian) and its moments	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 4 through equation (4-45).
28	Boltzmann and the 4 jeans equations (spherical)	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 4 through equation (4-45).
29	Galaxy disks: Rotation and epicyclic motion	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 4 through equation (4-45).
30	Galaxy models: Potentials, orbits, and distribution functions	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 4 through equation (4-45).
31	Clusters of galaxies	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 4 through equation (4-45).
32	Evidence for the expansion and homegeneity of the universe Newtonian derivation of Friedmann universe	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
33	Galaxy formation	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
34	Friedman-Robertson-Walker metric	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
35	Friedman equation with radiation and other stuff	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
36	Supernovae and cosmic acceleration	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
37	Recombination and helium production	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
38	Fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background	Binney, and Tremaine. Chapter 10. 8.902 Notes on Cosmology. Sections 3.1-3.3.
	Final exam