Stellar observations and the quest for understanding stars have always been at the core of astronomy since ancient times. Stars are not only extraordinary physics laboratories, but they are also vital to our understanding of the life cycle of systems at all scales, such as planets, galaxies and the intergalactic medium. In this course, you will first learn the basic physics of stellar structure in all relevant physical regimes. Then, we will follow a journey through a star’s life where its structure changes as a function of time. We will only focus on isolated stars.
Outcome:
After completion of this course, you will be able to answer quantitative and qualitative questions about a star’s interior structure and life path, when considering an isolated star, ignoring magnetic fields and rotation.
This means that after this course you will be able to:
Run and process the output of the MESA stellar evolution code
Recognise a star’s evolution stage from its observational appearance
Name the main uncertainties in the current knowledge of stellar structure and evolution
Write a clear and professional scientific report
