Lectures:
Tuesday, Thursday 1.00pm--2.15pm, Room 423, Herman Brown Hall.
Office Hours:
Wednesday 1.30-3.00pm, Room 223, Herman Brown Hall.
Required Text:
An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (2nd Edition),
by Bradley Carroll and Dale Ostlie.
Note: Students possessing the First
Edition of this book can largely get by using it, but will need
to reference the more up-to-date Second Edition on occasions.
Teaching Assistant:
Sam Millstone (email: Sam dot Millstone at rice.edu).
C & O APPROX NUMBER APPROX
TOPIC CHAPTER OF LECTURES DATES
Preliminaries 2,3,5,8 2 1/14, 1/16
The Milky Way 24 3 1/21, 1/23, 1/28
Normal Galaxies 25 2.5 1/30, 2/4, 2/6
Galactic Evolution 26 0.5 2/6
Large Scale Structure, 27 2 2/11, 2/18
Clusters, & Cosmic Expansion
Spring Recess, February 13-14
Active Galaxies 28 2 2/20, 2/25
Quasars and AGN Unification 28 1 2/27
Gamma-Ray Bursts 15 1 3/4
Cosmological Principle 29 1 3/6
and Cosmochronology
Take-home, Open-Book Exam, March 7/8
Newtonian Cosmology 29 2 3/11, 3/13
Mid-Term Recess, March 17-21
Relativistic Cosmology 29 1.5 3/25, 3/27
Observational Cosmology 29 1.5 3/27, 4/1
Cosmic Microwave Background 29 2 4/3, 4/8
Research Project Presentations: late March/early April TBD
Thermal History of 29 1.5 4/10, 4/15
the Early Universe
Primordial Nucleosynthesis 29 1.5 4/15, 4/17
Structure Formation 30 2 4/22, 4/24
and Inflation
Take-Home Final Exam, due before 5pm on May 6
Lecture/date allocations for the material are approximate, and may be modified as the semester progresses, for example should serendipitous travel to a meeting arise for Dr. Baring.
Special Needs?
Any student with a documented disability needing academic
adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with Dr. Baring
during the first two weeks of class. All discussions will
remain confidential. Students with disabilities should also
contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.
Other texts: