Fundamentals of astrophysics
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE UNIT
The graduate of the course is able to describe and explain:
- theory of gravity in the physical image of the world. Development of views on space, time and gravity.
- Einstein's law of gravitation.
- formal scheme of KM Principle of superposition in KM and its consequences.
- description of planetary motion, Moon motion. Outline of solar and lunar eclipse calculations.
- origin, evolution and final stages of stars, galaxies, quasars.
- photometry. Radiation detectors - human eye, photographic emulsion, photomultiplier. Photoelectric photometers.
- spectroscopy. Principles of spectroscopy. Optical prism and diffraction grating.
COURSE CURRICULUM
1. Theory of gravity in the physical image of the world. Development of views on space, time and gravity. Principle of equivalence, its various formulations and corresponding experiments.
2. Einstein's law of gravitation. Basic observational data about the universe as a whole - mass distribution, Hubble's relation, relic radiation, 'big bang'.
3. Wave function - properties and interpretation. Operators of physical quantities - mean values, eigenvalues and eigenfunctions.
4. Formal scheme of KM Principle of superposition in KM and its consequences. States of microsystems as elements of vector space.
5. Astrometry. Phenomena affecting coordinates - refraction, parallax, aberration, self-movement, precession, nutation. Instruments for terrestrial astrometry, interferometers, astrometric satellites. Doppler effect.
6. Exact time. Stellar time, equations of equinoxes. Right and mean solar time, time equation. Atomic time, UT1 times, UTC, pole motion, motions of solar system bodies. Description of planetary motion, Moon motion. Outline of solar and lunar eclipse calculations.
7. Calculation of trajectory elements from observed positions, units and quantities in astronomy and astrophysics. Electromagnetic radiation, laws of radiation of an absolutely black body.
8. Origin, evolution and final stages of stars, galaxies, quasars. Classical methods of star observation. Spectral classification, luminosity classes, multidimensional classification, classification of variable stars and their places in HRD. Pulsating variable stars.
9. Our Galaxy. Structure, kinematics and dynamics, rotation. Oort constants. Galactic core. Galaxies and quasars. Hubble classification of galaxies. Active galaxies and quasars. Optical systems of telescopes: Newton, Cassegrain, Gregory, Schmidt, Maksutov.
10. Photometry. Radiation detectors - human eye, photographic emulsion, photomultiplier. Photoelectric photometers. Principle of CCD detector. Photometric systems and their applications. Ultraviolet and infrared photometry.
11. Spectroscopy. Principles of spectroscopy. Optical prism and diffraction grating. Dispersion curve. Spectrograph. Microphotometer. Comparative spectrum. Unconventional spectroscopy. Atlases of spectra, tables of spectral lines. Spectrum processing - speed guidance.
12. Radio astronomy. Antennas. Receivers. Point and area objects, continuous and linear radiation. Interferometry, aperture synthesis, VLBI. Radar equation. Ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma astronomy. Instruments of solar physics. Helioscopic eyepiece, whole state, solar spectrograph, coronograph
13. Properties and detection of polarized light. Stokes parameters. Polarimeter, Wollaston polarizer
AIMS
The aim of the course is for graduates to have a deeper overview of the basics of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Graduates will gain advanced knowledge in the major parts of classical and modern astronomy, astrophysics. They will also gain an overview of general areas of physics - theoretical mechanics, quantum physics, thermodynamics, statistical physics and general theory of relativity.
They will be able to define the basis of astrophysical phenomena and gain a general overview of the physical laws of the universe.
They will gain an overview of modern observation techniques and methods, they are ready for the analysis of observation data and the creation of numerical models.
Presential
TRUE
Fundamentals of astrophysics
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. The statements made herein do not necessarily have the consent or agreement of the ASTRAIOS Consortium. These represent the opinion and findings of the author(s).
