Undergraduate - UnitASP2062 - Introduction to astrophysics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Organisational Unit	School of Physics and Astronomy
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Duncan Galloway

Synopsis

Processes of star and planet formation; celestial mechanics; tides, accretion disks; solar system formation; extra-solar planets; the Sun; interiors of stars and the main sequence; post main sequence evolution; degenerate remnants; the Milky Way; the nature of galaxies; active galaxies; particles and cosmic rays.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Apply basic physical and mathematical principles to gain a quantitative and qualitative understanding of the universe;

Think physically about astronomical problems, and demonstrate this in a range of problem solving tasks;

Exhibit practical skills in computationally modelling astrophysical systems;

Demonstrate a knowledge of stars, planets, and galaxies sufficient to undertake further astrophysics studies at Level 3.

Assessment

Examination (3 hours): 60%
Computer laboratories: 30%
Tests: 10%
A pass in the examination is required to pass the unit.

Workload requirements

Three 1-hour lectures per week, one weekly 2-hour tutorial or practical computer class

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Duncan Galloway

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Astrophysics
Mathematics and statistics

Prerequisites

MTH1030, MTH1035 or equivalent, and 6 points of physics at level one

Co-requisites

MTH2010 or MTH2015 recommended