Physics 372, Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology: Spring 2025
This material can be found online at URL
http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys372/phys372.html
Outline for the course, class schedule, etc.
Lectures
- Week 1, Day A:
Intro to the course, cosmological teasers
- Week 1, Day B:
Parallax -- what is it?
- Week 1, Day C:
Parallax -- uncertainties and bias
- Week 2, Day A:
No class
- Week 2, Day B:
Review of stellar properties (all based on parallax!)
- Week 2, Day C:
Using stellar spectra to estimate distances
- Week 3, Day A:
Clusters of stars
- Week 3, Day B:
Clusters of stars II: How far do they reach?
- Week 3, Day C:
Distance Ladder exercise
- Week 4, Day A:
How to determine distances with eclipsing binary stars
- Week 4, Day B:
Using pulsating stars I: RR Lyrae
- Week 4, Day C:
Using pulsating stars II: Cepheids
- Week 5, Day A:
News and questions
- Week 5, Day B:
Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB)
- Week 5, Day C:
Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF)
- Week 6, Day A:
Distances from the globular cluster luminosity function
- Week 6, Day B:
The Milky Way Galaxy I: Structure
- Week 6, Day C:
The Milky Way Galaxy II: Mass
- Week 7, Day A:
Other galaxies: basic classification
(bring laptop with you if possible for
an interactive exercise)
- Week 7, Day B:
Other galaxies: Jargon
- Week 7, Day C:
Midterm
- Week 8, Day A:
Galaxies in optical vs. infrared
- Week 8, Day B:
Guest: Rebecca Larson on "How to detect high-redshift galaxies"
- Week 8, Day C:
No class
- Spring Break (Mar 12 - 19)
- Week 9, Day A:
Active Galaxies I
- Week 9, Day B:
Active Galaxies II
- Week 9, Day C:
Supermassive Black Holes -- do they really exist?
- Week 10, Day A:
Using masers to measure a "geometric" distance
- Week 10, Day B:
The Tully-Fisher relationship (spirals)
- Week 10, Day C:
The Fundamental Plane (ellipticals)
- Week 11, Day A:
Supernovae: overview and using EPM on Type II
- Week 11, Day B:
Supernovae: can we use Type Ia SNe as standard candles?
- Week 11, Day C:
Gravitational lensing I
- Week 12, Day A:
Gravitational lensing II
- Week 12, Day B:
Cosmology -- the (local) expanding universe and H0
- Week 12, Day C:
The mystery of "impossibly young" galaxies
- Week 13, Day A:
The Cosmic Microwave Background I: Maps of the microwave sky
- Week 13, Day B:
The Cosmic Microwave Background II: Origin and Redshift
- Week 13, Day C:
The Cosmic Microwave Background III: Structure ; Dynamics of a simplfied universe
- Week 14, Day A:
Adding Λ (lambda) to the mix
- Week 14, Day B:
What else can we learn from the CMB?
- Week 14, Day C:
The Hubble Tension (at last)
- Week 15, Day A:
Day of review and news
- Posters due for Final Exam: Wed, Apr 30, 10:45 AM.
Homework sets
In order to use the on-line homework system,
you need to know your login name and have
a means of two-factor authentication.
Your "login name" should be the same as your last name,
but with lowercase letters only;
something like richmond.
You'll need to use some sort of 2FA application,
such as Duo Mobile.
-
Introduction to Webwork system
due Thursday, Jan 16, at 5:00 PM.
-
Trigonometric parallax
due Friday, Jan 24, at 5:00 PM.
-
Clusters of stars
due Friday, Feb 7, at 5:00 PM.
-
Variable stars
due Friday, Feb 14, at 5:00 PM.
-
Secondary distance indicators
due Friday, Feb 21, at 5:00 PM.
-
Analysis of galaxy classification exercise
due Tuesday, Feb 24, at 11:59 PM.
This is NOT a WebWork exercise; instead, you
need to look at a series of galaxies in class
and classify them in a spreadsheet;
then submit a copy of the spreadsheet via
myCourses, under
Galaxy classification exercise
-
Galaxies in the optical vs. the infrared
due Wednesday, Mar 5, at 11:59 PM.
This is NOT a WebWork exercise; instead, you
need to examine one galaxy at optical and infrared
wavelengths, and answer some questions about its appearance.
Submit a copy of your answers, together with a screenshot
of your galaxy, in myCourses, under
Comparison of galaxies in optical and IR
-
Active Galaxies, Tully-Fisher, Faber-Jackson
due Friday, Apr 4, at 5:00 PM.
-
Using supernovae to estimate distances
due Friday, Apr 11, at 5:00 PM.
Extra Credit Projects
The deadline for extra credit assignments is 5 PM, Mon, Apr 28.
All work must be submitted to the instructor by this time to count
towards your grade.
-
Create an HR diagram using Gaia DR3 data
-
Make a map of the original Federation of Planets
-
What is the most distant galaxy to which the TRGB method
has been applied?
For more information:
- I've taught vaguely related courses in the past.
This page maintained by Michael Richmond.