Physics & Astronomy
307/507 Autumn 2023 Homepage
Univ. Louisville
Instructor: Dr.
Gerard Williger, NS 206, tel 852-0821
e-mail: gmwill06@*
where *= louisville.edu
My homepage is here
Office hours:
online by appointment;
*I will entertain questions on problem sets up to the end of the day
before they are due*
TUTORS:
Jean Gorce (Physics Learning Center, Mon 9-11am, Wed 9-11am, Nat Sci
304, jcgorc01@)
Mike Rueff (rmruef01@)
Matt Nichols (mtnich05@, also TA for Astro 308)
Lectures: Natural
Science Bldg 313, Tue/Thu 11am-12:15pm
Text: Foundations of Astrophysics,
Ryden & Peterson (RP), 1st ed., Addison-Wesley
(2010)
KNOWN ERRATA:
Chap 2, p 45, Fig. 2.13: Mars is shown at WESTERN quadrature
(caption is wrong)
Chap 4, p 87: In the derivation of tidal force (Eqn 4.14), the angle
phi should be theta.
Chap 4, p 105, Fig 4.17: The distance from the center of Earth to
the moon (labelled as r_sun) should be r_0 to be consistent with
Eqns. 4.55-4.56.
Chap 5, p 114, Eqn (5.15): The rightmost term should be (a^2/c^2),
not (a^2/c^3) (caught by Mike Rueff, 4 Oct 2023)
Chap 7, p 190, after Eqn 7.24: the exponent on year should be -1.
(found by S. Broadwater, 24 Oct 2023)
Chap 15, p 368, Fig. 15.6: CNO cycle should have 13N -> 13C + e+
+ nu_e
Chap 24, p 556, Eqn 24.21: horizon size is integral of $\ell(t_0) =
\int_0^{t_0} c dt/a$ not $\ell(t_0) = \int_0^{t_0} dt/a$
Chap 24, p 565, last paragraph, 2-3 lines from bottom: ...at which
bound atomic nuclei could NOT exist because ...
The course objective is to learn basic the basic physics of
astronomical phenomena. A mastery of calculus and introductory
(calculus-based) college physics is assumed.
Differential equations will help, but if you have not had them, you
can pick up what you will need.
For Astronomy 507, there are a few changes listed at the bottom of
this webpage.
A password-enabled protected site
will contain answers to homework and midterm problems, if I do not
pass them out in class. I may also put commentaries on common
homework errors there as well.
Finally, all the PowerPoint files plus animation files for my Astro
107 class
are on the protected site. They're an excellent overview for
the material in this course, and I
highly recommend your looking at the files. We'll try to cover
roughly chapters 1-12 in our textbook.
CALENDAR
this semester for this class (subject to change depending on
COVID, weather etc.):
LE = face-to-face lecture in
Nat Sci 313; one is tentatively scheduled for the planetarium
(to be announced)
Tue
Thu
22AugLE
24AugLE Week 1 ; Mini-Quiz 1 (diagnostic)
29AugLE
31SepLE Week 2
05SepPL
07SepLE Week 3 ; MQ2
12SepLE
14SepLE Week 4
19SepLE
21SepLE
Week 5; MQ3 (swapped w. Quiz
1 by class request)
26SepLE
28SepLE Week 6
03OctLE
05OctLE Week 7; Quiz 1 (swapped
w. MQ3 by class request)
MidSemBreak 12Oct LE Week 8
17OctLE/MT
19OctLE
Week 9;
24OctLE
26Oct LE Week 10 (will be taught
remotely)
31OctLE
02NovLE Week 11
07NovLE
09NovLE Week 12; MQ4 (postponed from
2 Nov, by request)
14Nov
LE;
16NovLE Week 13; no quiz (postponed by
class request)
21NovLE; Quiz 2 (rescheduled by
class request) Thanksgiving Week
14
28NovLE
30NovLE Week 15
Cumulative final: as per the official
UL date, Fri. 8 Dec.,
11:30am-2pm
Astro 507 presentation: None
this semester.
GRAPHING CALCULATORS, COMMUNICATION DEVICES AND ANY STUDY AIDS
NOT SPECIFICALLY PERMITTED
BY THE INSTRUCTOR ARE NOT PERMITTED ON QUIZZES/TESTS. I
WILL PROVIDE A
A NON-GRAPHING, NON-COMMUNICATING CALCULATOR DURING
QUIZZES/TESTS.
Here are
links for the 307/590 sequence supplemental material and
additional explanations
Here are supplemental
material and additional explanations for the 107 course
astro-news
for Astro 107 (see for solar plasma ejection article etc.)
Reading (subject to amendment):
Week
01: RP Chap 1-2; Astro 107 slides Ch. 1
Week 02: RP Chap 2-3; Astro 107 slides Ch. 5
Week 03: RP Chap 3-4; Astro 107 slides Ch. 4
Week 04: RP Chap 4-5 (first third); Astro 107 slides Ch. 2
Week 05: RP Chap 5 (second third)
Week 06: RP Chap 5 (last bit)
For Thu of Week 6: also Jason Prochaska's Cargese slides #1 (see
LINKS, chap 5), up through slide 79
For Tue of Week 7: also Jason Prochaska's Cargese slides #2 (see
LINKS, chap 5), up through slide 37
Week 07: RP Chap 6; Astro 107 slides Ch. 3
Week 08: Chap 6
Week 09: (Midterm, 17 Oct), RP Chap 7; Astro 107 slides Ch.
10; for background, skim p. 1-2 of short article on corona by
Robbrech (2005)
Week 10: RP Chap 8; Astro 107 slides Ch. 6
Week 11: RP Chap 9
Week 12: RP Chap 9-10; Astro 107 slides Ch. 7
Reading
for qualitative descriptions synchrotron radiation:
Swinburne
Univ. (Australia) COSMOS page
Wikipedia
(qualitative part, just from beginning to pulsar wind nebulae)
Synchrotron
Radiation (qualitative, history) by Richard Wielebinski,
MPIR, Bonn, Germany (also on Protected site)
Plasma
Universe synchrotron radiation page (qualitative)
There are other, more detailed/quantitative files
for your reference on the Protected site, with file names
indicating Chapter 10.
For a test, I will most likely ask qualitative
questions about synchrotron radiation. We will re-visit it in
Astronomy 590.
Week 13: RP Chap 10-11; Astro 107 slides Ch. 8
Mike
Brown's Eris page
Read the highlights/get the main idea from the
pages below on comets, asteroids, meteorites, Trans-Neptunian
Objects
https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_object
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murchison_meteorite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_model
Week 14: RP Chap 11; Astro 107 slides Ch. 9
Week 15: RP Chap 12
http://astro.unl.edu/naap/esp/animations/radialVelocitySimulator.html
- radial velocity simulator
http://astro.unl.edu/naap/ebs/animations/ebs.html
- transit simulator
http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/
- exoplanet catalogue
If a chapter is listed for multiple weeks, read part of it each
week, as corresponds to the time allotted.
Homework:
if it collected, it is generally due at beginning of class;
answers in units given in the problem e.g. standard
astronomical units (preferred, like AU or pc for distance, solar
masses for mass, years for time, degrees/minutes/seconds for angle
on sky; steradians for unit solid angle in physics expressions
etc.) OR
SI units, unless noted, following the format below.
Solutions will always be provided for non-textbook problems.
You are responsible for all homework problems, both
"challenge" (not for credit) and "counts" (for credit).
Problems are indicated as chapter.problem (e.g. 1.5 is chapter 1,
problem 5).
YOU
MUST SHOW YOUR WORK (INCLUDING ORIGINS OF ALL
NUMBERS) SO THAT I CAN
FOLLOW YOUR CALCULATIONS AND GIVE PARTIAL CREDIT.
(TRADITIONAL/ON PAPER HOMEWORK ONLY: YOU MUST STAPLE, PAPER
CLIP OR OTHERWISE ATTACH YOUR HOMEWORK!
RIPPING THE CORNER VARIOUS WAYS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
LOOSE PAGES MAY BE LOST. ALSO, NO "FRIZZY PAPER". PENALTY:
-10%.)
IT IS YOUR JOB TO SHOW ME THAT YOU UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO THE
PROBLEM.
IT IS ALMOST NEVER MY INTENTION FOR YOU TO LOOK FOR AN ANSWER
ON THE WWW,
UNLESS I EXPLICITLY SAY SO. WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK. I GENERALLY DO
NOT GIVE
MUCH OR ANY CREDIT IF YOU AVOID DOING THE WORK IN A PROBLEM BY
SEARCHING FOR THE ANSWER ONLINE.
YOU MUST CITE ALL SOURCES THAT YOU USE SO THAT I CAN REPRODUCE
YOUR CALCULATION.
IF YOU WORK WITH ANOTHER STUDENT, PLEASE TELL ME. IF I SEE
EVIDENCE OF
COPYING, I GENERALLY GIVE ZERO CREDIT AND REPORT IT TO THE
DEAN.
IF YOU TELL ME IN ADVANCE WITH WHOM YOU WORK, I WILL BE MORE
LENIENT.
HOMEWORK PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS WILL
EITHER BE PASSED OUT OR PUT ON THE PROTECTED SITE.
NB: Problems typically due >=1 week in advance of material in
lecture, and due dates are subject to change. depending on how we
progress.
COUNTS PROBLEMS:
Counts problems are
typically worth 1% each on the grade unless otherwise noted.
Late homework is not generally accepted. If it is, there
may be a penalty on the credit given, with the penalty
increasing over time.
Any writing for an
assignment or extra credit counts for grammar, spelling
and writing style. Keep an electronic copy for
your records.
FOR ANY PAPER SUMMARIES:
Summarize in a coherent, logical manner.
Grammar, spelling and style count.
CREDIT: 1% of grade
Those in 307: roughly 300-350
words.
Those in 507: roughly 600-700 words.
For N students, I have to read and grade N
times this amount, so please do not go over
the word limits. Cover what you
think are the MAIN points. If I feel
your article is too long, I may take off
points for it.
All students should write double-spaced so I can write comments as
needed. Minimum type size is 11 point.
The main goal is to write a standalone piece
of prose which another person (who has not
seen the original
article) can read and understand, to get the
main points of the original article.
With this
and all paper summaries,
0) Look up and list any definitions you
needed to learn which were not from the book
or lectures, and also abbreviations from
outside the course that you will use in your
summary. If you need help, ask.
Also, list any sources you consult for
background (full URL or other traceable
information)
Clearly
identify AND ITEMIZE
WITH HEADINGS at
least these points:
i)
your first sentence should be a punchy
summary: "This paper shows/discusses ..."
ii) the main science question(s)/technical
issue(s) + BACKGROUND
iii) data/instrument source description
(e.g. telescopes, surveys etc. if it is an
observational paper; none if theory paper)
iv) methods (if applicable)
v) results, discussion/conclusions
vi) future work/implications for the field.
IMPORTANT: Avoid copying phrases or
sentences verbatim. Put the material into
your own words. Use plural with "data",
singular with "datum".
Write in good prose, and connect your
paragraphs. The goal is to learn
journal/proposal writing style.
COUNTS-1:
Make seven full-page figures showing various
physical/astrophysical quantities on logarithmic scales:
(i) distance/size,
(ii) mass,
(iii) time,
(iv) temperature,
(v) density,
(vi) velocity,
(vii) wavelength (gamma ray - radio).
The goal is to get a feel for scales for these parameters. Put some
illustrations to make it visual. Don't just list names. It should be
a memory-helper for you to learn relative scales. Remember that these
are discrete data points, so do not "connect the dots". Stick to the
solar system. Use a *WHITE* background. We will do this again in 590 for stars and galaxies.
Use the links page as a guide, but find other sources of information
and cite them so that the reference can be easily found e.g. full URL,
not just "NASA". Be clear, original and also artistic. Results
will be shared among other students to help with learning. This is a
full-semester project, but I will collect drafts for progress
evaluation periodically. Keep an electronic copy of your work.
The first draft is due on Tue 12 Sep at the beginning of class. This
assignment is worth 1.5% of the grade.
**FINAL COPIES DUE BY 5PM ON TUE DEC 5**
COUNTS-2
(6 pts) You
start flying in
a plane from
City_Takeoff
at lat.
16deg 17'S, long
27deg
28'E. You
want to travel
to an
airport
near
City_Target,
with the city at
lat 26deg 12'S,
long 28deg 03'
E. For
short distances,
the disk
approximation
to a_{Cor} is a
good
approximation on
a sphere.
(BONUS:
Why?) Make
your
calculations to
the nearest
minute of
latitude and
longitude.
You fly directly
south using your
compass, at
250~km/hr.
Ignore the
effects of wind,
assume
Earth is a
perfect sphere,
R_Earth =
6371km, and
neglect any
magnetic
declination.
i) (1 pt) What
is the shortest
distance in km
between
City_Takeoff and
the latitude of
City_Target, and
how long must
you fly to
get to
City_Target's
parallel?
ii) (3 pts) How
far east or west
and in which
direction will
you go in km
relative to
Earth's surface?
iii) (2 pts)
What is your new
longitude
(degrees and
minutes), and
are you east or
west of
City_Target?
This assignment
is worth 1% of
the grade.
Due on Tue 19
Sep at the
beginning of
class.
COUNTS-3
Read the Schrijver
et al. (2013) review article on
the class
protected site,
under
"Articles".
Give a 1 page
(~300-350 word)
summary as
described
above.
Definitions for
words you do not
know, or references, do not
count against
the word or page total.
Due on paper on
Tue Nov 7 at the
beginning of
class.
Keep an
electronic
copy.
Worth 1% of your
grade.
FOR AN EXAMPLE,
I put a paper by
Beichman on the
LSST camera in
the Articles
subdirectory on
the class
protected site.
I also put an
example summary
there. Follow
that for format
and style.
COUNTS-4
Read the Denevi
(2017) review article on the
class protected
site, under
"Articles".
Give a 1 page
(~300-350 word)
summary as
described
above.
Definitions for
words you do not
know, or references, do not
count against
the word or page total.
Due by e-mail
(PDF) on Wed Nov
22 at 1pm
(EXTENDED).
Keep an
electronic
copy.
Worth 1% of your
grade.
COUNTS-5
Read the Walsh et
al. (2012) theory article on
the "Grand Tack"
the class
protected site,
under
"Articles".
Give a 1 page
(~300-350 word)
summary as
described
above.
Definitions for
words you do not
know, or references, do not
count against
the word or page total.
Due by e-mail
(PDF) on Tue Dec
5 at 4pm.
Keep an
electronic
copy.
Worth 1% of your
grade.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHALLENGE PROBLEMS -- TAKEN AS A SUBJECTIVE
INDICATION OF PARTICIPATION/EFFORT, WHEN
TURNED IN FOR COMMENTS.
Note: Late homework is not accepted, particularly after
solutions are posted.
Students are welcome to work on Challenge Problems in
teams, and to check their answers when I post the
solution. I will be happy to talk with students during
class time or afterward (problem sessions) about homework, and
to look at submitted solutions. Students can also make
appointments to see me to talk about homework. Think of
the textbook problems as training problems which
need to be learned. Test problems will sometimes (but not
always) be homework problems with a variation.
HW01, due Tue 29 Aug at 11am: CHALLENGE: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6,
1.7
HW02, due Tue 05 Sep at 11am: CHALLENGE: 1.8, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6,
2.7
HW03, due Tue 12 Sep at 11am: CHALLENGE: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.8,
3.9
HW04, due Tue 19 Sep at 11am: CHALLENGE: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.8,
4.9
HW05a, due Tue 26 Sep at 11am: CHALLENGE: 5.4
HW05b, due Tue 03 Oct at 11am: CHALLENGE: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 5.7
HW06a, due THU 12 Oct at 11am: CHALLENGE: 5.8, 6.1, 6.2, 6.4 (a CCD
is a light detector, just like in a digital camera)
HW06b, due Tue 24 Oct at 11am: CHALLENGE: 6.3, 6.5, 6.6, 7.2
HW07, due Tue 31 Oct at 11am: CHALLENGE: 7.1, 7.3, 7.6, 7.8
HW08, due Tue 07 Nov at 11am: CHALLENGE: 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6,
9.2, 9.7
HW09, due Tue 14 Nov at 11am: CHALLENGE: 9.1, 9.3, 9.5, 9.10, 10.2,
10.4, 10.6
HW10, due Tue 21 Nov at 11am: CHALLENGE: 10.3, 10.8, 10.10, 11.3, 11.5, 11.6, 11.8
HW11a, due Tue 28 Nov at 11am: CHALLENGE: 11.4, 12.1, 12.4 (use Planck function), 12.5
HW11b, due Thu 30 Nov at 11am: CHALLENGE: 12.2, 12.3, 12.6
WEBSITE ASSIGNMENT: Due by 6pm on Sun 10 Dec.
See the instructions posted on the class protected site and
when completed, send me the link.
EXTRA CREDIT:
1) Join LinkedIn. Make a profile and send me the
link. Worth up to +1% on your grade. The deadline is
by
the final exam.
2) Do the UL official course evaluation. Upload your
screenshot to BlackBoard showing that you did it. Worth up
to +0.25% on your grade. The deadline is by 24 hours after
the final exam.
3) Make a study sheet for the midterm (1 piece of 8.5x11"
paper, 2 sides). Worth up to 0.25% on the grade.
Due at the beginning of the class before the midterm.
4) Make a similar study sheet for the final, worth up to
0.25% on the grade. Due two days before the final
exam.
-----
RESULTS OF TESTS:
Miniquiz 1: 5 taken, mean=5.97/10, std dev=3.01
Miniquiz 2: 5 taken, mean=5.94/10, std dev=2.21
Miniquiz 3: 5 taken, mean=5.29/10, std dev=3.42
Miniquiz 4:
Quiz 1: 5 taken, mean=5.3/10, std dev=2.9, high=8.95
Midterm: 5 taken, mean=23.5/50, std dev=7.9, high=34.9
Quiz 2: 5 taken, mean=5.5/10, std dev=3.4, high=9.6
Final: 5 taken, mean=45.4/80, std dev=19.3, high=74.5
-----
Participation grades are
subjective, based on attendance, questions and other
contributions to class.
GRADING:
Your grades are composed
of: participation/homework, website, quizzes, midterm and
final.
(For 507: add in a presentation on a refereed journal
article.)
All parts are
required for completing the course.
Partial
Credit:
Homework and tests will
have partial credit available. You MUST show
your work, in particular
the equations which are used to begin a
calculation, to get any
credit at all. You must keep track of
significant
digits. If the least
accurate number going into a calculation has n
significant digits, then
the answer should have that number, also.
If you happen to do the
wrong homework problem instead of an assigned
one, you will typically not
get credit for it.
Leaving
a question blank gets no credit, ever.
Scientists
need
to check their own work. To this end,
you are expected to have an
idea what a reasonable answer is, even though
you might not get the
correct answer.
A
reasonable answer has the correct units -- use dimensional analysis!
It also has an order of
magnitude
which is not wildly
inconsistent with information given in the problem or common
knowledge. For
example, calculating a core temperature of the Sun to
be 3K is a nonsense
(unreasonable) answer, because its surface and even
Earth are much hotter than
that. If your answer is way off
and you
note it and attempt to explain where the problem might be,
I will take it into
consideration.
If
you give a nonsense answer due to simple arithmetic or
mathematical
errors and do not catch it,
you may not get partial credit for setting up the
problem correctly.
Planned material to cover (subject to
modification; links for supplemental material are
provided):
orbital mechanics, Earth-Moon system, tides, nature of
light, telescopes/detectors, our solar system and others
We will explore other topics if time permits.
Topics
covered:
time, celestial
coordinates, celestial mechanics, Earth-Moon dynamics, the
planets, comets/asteroids,
interplanetary dust, E-M radiation and matter, the Sun,
exoplanets
Additional
material from other chapters and books will be added as
needed.
If you miss a test and you give
me a week's
advance notice with a
documentable reason, the make-up will be a one hour
oral exam. Quizzes
cannot be made up, but can be excused, with verifiable
documentation.
General test policy is that
once you leave the room, you can't come back in.
You are permitted to help
each other in groups, but you must turn in your own work.
Grading will be done on a
curve.
There is no fixed
percentile for grades, nor any absolute standard for letter
grades. The plus-minus
grading system (A, A-, B+ etc.) will be used.
GRADING for Astronomy 307 (changes
noted for 507):
Grades are calculated as follows:
307:
mini-quizzes every 1-2 weeks unless there is a major
quiz/midterm: 1-2% each
major quizzes: 2-4 in semester, roughly 3-6% each
midterm and cumulative final: 1 each semester, final counts
1.6x midterm
mini-quizzes, major quizzes, midterm and final: total 80% of
grade
website: 6%
participation/discussion + graded homework/class
assignments: 14%
presentation (507 only): 6%, with other components
proportionally reduced so that all
parts of the course total 100%
FINAL
GRADING SCALE
(curved)
Further
information
for Astronomy
507:
Lectures are
the
same.
Any bonus
questions on
tests are
bonus for 307
students, and
non-bonus for
507 students.
Any summaries
of papers,
extra credit
etc. for 307
have one extra
page in length
for 507
students.
Additionally,
students in
507 will make
a 10 minute
oral/slide
presentation
on a 4-6 page
refereed paper
from a
research
journal
(probably
Astrophysical
Journal
Letters), in
front of the
class, and
make a two
page (600-700
word) writeup
of the paper.
The
topic and
article are to
be mutually
agreed upon
between the
student and
instructor, by
the end of the
18th lecture
in the course.
IN CASE YOU WITHDRAW:
Please talk with Dr. W first. There is great flexibility in
the class to accommodate individual cases.
Withdrawing from a class is a loss of time and resources for both
the student and the University.
If you still withdraw, please let Dr. W and your academic advisor
know why, so we can minimize withdrawals in the future,
for the best interests of students and the University.