PX1121 MECHANICS AND MATTER - Cardiff School of Physics and ...

PX1124 THE UNIVERSE FROM PARTICLES TO GALAXIES
MODULE INFORMATION:
Autumn semester: 10 credits.
Module organiser: Dr P Hargrave.
Deputy Module Organiser: Dr H L Gomez.
Teaching and feedback methods: Lectures 22 x 1 hr, marked exercises.
Assessment: Examination 80%. Coursework 20%. [Examination duration: 2 hours]
Pre-cursors: None.
Co-requisites: None.
Pre-requisites: None.
AIMS OF THE MODULE:
To give an overview of the observed structure of stars, galaxies and the Universe.
To give a simple descriptive account of the basic properties of matter, including nuclear and elementary particles.
To introduce students to the application of physical and mathematical laws in formulating theories for the origin and
evolution of astronomical structures.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The student will be able to:
Describe key developments in the history of astronomy.
Explain the principles and design of astronomical telescopes.
Identify and describe the physical properties of stars (distances, masses, magnitudes, temperatures).
Describe the elementary structure of stars and stellar evolution and demonstrate basic knowledge of binary stars,
supernovae and pulsars.
Explain the basic structure of galaxies and the basic ideas of elementary cosmology.
Relate key properties of stars and galaxies to the fundamental properties of matter.
Demonstrate understanding of the physical make up of the Universe by answering both essay-style questions and solving
unseen numerical problems under examination conditions.
OUTLINE SYLLABUS:
Introduction to Astronomy: Historical background. Ancient astronomy. Scientific astronomy: Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler,
Galileo and Newton, including brief discussion of Kepler’s laws (circular orbits only).
Light and telescopes: The EM spectrum. Black body radiation. Background radiation. Principles of telescope design and
instrumentation.
The Sun and Stars: The magnitude system. Parallax. Inverse square law for flux and the distance modulus. The luminosity function
of stars. The HR diagram.
Nuclear burning: Nuclear matter (brief history). Energy production in stars. Main-sequence life.
Stellar evolution: The birth of stars and the inter-stellar medium. The life and death of stars. Supernovae, Neutron Stars (Pulsars)
and Black holes.
Our galaxy: The Milky Way, rotation curves, the local group.
Distances in the Universe: Measuring astronomical distances. Hubble’s law. Cosmological distances. Galaxies.
Cosmology: The creation and fate of the Universe. Simple models of the Universe. Missing mass. Particle physics and dark matter.
The twin frontiers of physics.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS:
Problem solving. Investigative skills. Mathematics. Analytical skills.
READING LIST:
Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics, Zeilik and Gregory (Saunders College Publishing).
Universe, W Kaufmann (Freeman).
NOTES:
This module can be offered as a FSM. External candidates for this module are advised to have taken A-Level Mathematics.