Physics 380: Astrophysics

This course is a 3-hour elective for upper level physics majors. The text required for this course is, An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, 2nd edition, by Carroll and Ostlie

The course syllabus is always available here.

Homework Assignments & Solutions

• Homework #1 | Homework #1 Solutions | For class discussion on Sept 6 & submission Sept. 8.
• Homework #2 | Homework #2 Solutions | For class discussion on Sept 13 & submission Sept. 15.
• Homework #3 | Homework #3 Solutions | For class discussion on Sept 20 & submission Sept. 22.
• Homework #4 | Homework #4 Solutions | For class discussion on Sept 27 & submission Oct. 4.
• Homework #5 | Homework #5 Solutions | For class discussion on Oct. 6 & submission Oct. 13.
• Homework #6 | Homework #6 Solutions | For class discussion on Oct. 18 & submission Oct. 20.
• Homework #7 | Homework #7 Solutions | Problem 9-26 For class discussion on Oct. 27 & submission Nov. 1.
• Homework #8 | Homework #8 Solutions | For class discussion on Nov. 10 & submission Nov. 15.
• Homework #9 | Homework #9 Solutions | For class discussion on Nov. 29 & submission Dec. 1.

Classnotes

• Sept. 1: Read Chapter 1 in the text


• Sept. 1: Read more about celestial spheres.


• Sept. 1: For class T, read secs. 2.1-2.3 in the text. You can review another derivation of Kepler's First Law in this classnote from Math Methods.


• Sept. 6:For class Sept. 13, Review Sec. 3.3 and read 3.1 and 3.2 carefully.


• Sept: 15: Complete reading Chapter 3 and read sections 5.1-5.3; much of this latter reading should be a review of modern.


• Nov. 7: I have finally posted a derviation of the expressions for mean intensity, flux and radiation pressure in the Eddington approximation