AST 602, Astrophysics Graduate Seminar: Spring 2015-2016

This material can be found online at URL

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/ast602/ast602.html

Outline for the course, class schedule, etc.

Throughout the semester, AST faculty will visit our Monday morning meetings to describe their research.

Tentative schedule for the semester

• Week 1:
  • Imagine RIT: Kristina Punzi
  • AST program information: Andy Robinson
• Week 2: Reading and evaluating an article.
  • Please read and annotate a copy of this recent astro-ph paper , and bring your copy with you to class.
  • Choose an article from recent submissions to astro-ph. Read it carefully and critically. Send E-mail to the instructor by 5 PM, Thursday, Jan 28, identifying the paper you have chosen. You will lead a discussion of the paper in class in our Week 2 meeting.
    • Three Tools to Aid Visualisation of FITS Files for Astronomy
    • Robust Filtering of Artifacts in Difference Imaging for Rapid Transients Detection
    • Science with the space-based interferometer eLISA. III: Probing the expansion of the Universe using gravitational wave standard sirens
    • Extended X-ray emission in the IC 2497 - Hanny's Voorwerp system: energy injection in the gas around a fading AGN
    • An instability of feedback regulated star formation in galactic nuclei
    • H-alpha as a Luminosity Class Diagnostic for K- and M-type Stars
• Week 3:
  • Visit from faculty member Michael Zemcov
  • Investigate faculty member: Manuela Campanelli
    • primary area of research?
    • physical location at RIT?
    • classes taught at RIT?
    • current students?
    • recent grants won?
    • recent papers published?
    • main collaborators elsewhere?
• Week 4:
  • How to search for "A and not B" authors in the Astrophysics Data Service
  • Proposal writing: choosing a project
  • Example: HST Cycle 24 call for proposals
  • Imagine RIT project: proof of concept
  • Investigate faculty member: Don Figer
    • primary area of research?
    • physical location at RIT?
    • classes taught at RIT?
    • current students?
    • recent grants won?
    • recent papers published?
    • main collaborators elsewhere?
• Week 5:
  • Proposal ideas
  • Effective and ineffective graphics
  • Read the works of Edward Tufte
  • Ten Guidelines for effective data visualization in scientific publications
  • Graphical Excellence in Scientific Presentations and Papers

  This week's example from astro-ph: First Results from the Rapid-Response Spectrophotometric Characterization of Near-Earth Objects using UKIRT

  • Order of magnitude: ideas for Friday, March 4
• Week 6:
  • Visit from faculty member Joel Kastner
  • Order of magnitude: work through all the math and present on Friday, March 4
• Week 7:
  • Writing a good proposal is like writing a good recipe
• Week 8:
  • Visit from faculty member Jason Nordhaus
  • Let's talk differential equations!
• Mar 21: No class meeting, spring break
• Week 9:
  • 10 AM: Proposal status presentations
  • 11 AM: Visit from faculty member Andy Robinson
• Week 10:
  • Visit from faculty member Jeyhan Kartaltepe
• Week 11:
  • Visit from faculty member Josh Faber
• Week 13:
  • Visit from faculty member Jason Nordhaus
• Week 14:
  • Visit from faculty member Sukanya Chakrabarti
• Week 15: May 2
  • Preparation for Imagine RIT
• Week 16: May 9
  • Submit your proposal in writing; place it into the mailbox outside my office door

For more information

This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Feb 16, 2016.

Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.