PHYS 374, Introduction to Astrophysics: Fall 2026

This material can be found online at URL

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys374/phys374.html

Outline/syllabus for the course, class schedule, etc.

Tentative schedule for the quarter.

• Week 1: The refereed literature, ADS. HR diagrams (I)
• Week 2: Reading papers, making graphs. HR diagrams (II)
• Week 3: No class - Labor Day

• Week 4: Rotation curves and strange kinematics
  
  Find a paper by Rubin, Ford and Thunnard published in the year 1980. Read section 2, look at the figures, and examine the conclusions (especially the first point).
• Week 5: The distance-velocity relationship (I)
  Find a paper by Hubble published in 1929 by the National Academy of Sciences. It is 6 pages long. Read it, make a list of any questions you have, and be prepared to explain portions of it to to the class.
• Week 6: The distance-velocity relationship (II): what is the Hubble tension?
• Week 7: Redshift Wrangler -- an RIT project
• Week 8: No class -- fall break
• Week 9: Exoplanets (I)
• Week 10: Exoplanets (II)
• Week 11: Beyond graduate school
• Week 12: Years 4 and 5 of the BS/MS program at RIT (with guest stars Michael Zemcov and Lindsay Cohen)
• Week 13: Student presentations (I)
• Week 14: Student Presentations (II)

Homework

• HW 1: Make an HR diagram using Gaia data (now ready to go!)
  Due Wednesday, Sep 16, at 5 PM.
  
  Answers to HW 1
• HW 2: History of the "Hubble Tension"
  Due Monday, Sep 28, at the start of class
  
  Answers to HW 2
• HW 3: Exoplanets
  Due Monday, Oct 19, at the start of class
  
  Answers to HW 3
• HW 4: Detecting the atmosphere of an exoplanet
  Due Monday, Oct 26, at the start of class
  
  Answers to HW 4
• HW 5: Basic plans for your class presentation
  Due Monday, Nov 2, at the start of class

For more information

This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Aug 23, 2026.

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