Galaxies

Galaxies
ASTR 300
Section:	101
Instructor:	Jeremy Heyl
	heyl@phas.ubc.ca
	Sidhant Guliani (TA)
	sidhant.guliani@gmail.com
Email:
Office:	Hennings 417
Office Hours:	W 12-13 or email me
Class Schedule:	MWF 11-12
Classroom:	Hennings 304
Important Course Pages
	Syllabus
	Lecture Notes
	Assignments
	Course Discussion

Instructor: Jeremy Heyl

Wiki Destinations

Topics

Topics we will cover include:

Properties of normal galaxies,
Elements of stellar dynamics;
Galactic structure, dynamics and evolution;
Active galaxies and quasars;
Large scale structures.

Grading Scheme

I will base the grades on the homework assignments (40%, four percent each, drop the lowest mark), midterm (10%) and the final exam (50%).

Textbook

The required textbook is Galaxies in the Universe by Linda S. Sparke and John S. Gallagher, III. It is available on Amazon for $114.95 (new) (less for used) and at the UBC bookstore.

1   Introduction
1.1 The stars                                                    2
1.2 Our Milky Way                                               26
1.3 Other galaxies                                              37
1.4 Galaxies in the expanding Universe                          46
1.5 The pregalactic era: a brief history of matter              50
2   Mapping our Milky Way                                       58
2 1 The solar neighborhood                                      59
2.2 The stars in the Galaxy                                     67
2.3 Galactic rotation                                           89
2.4 Milky Way meteorology: the interstellar gas                 95
3   The orbits of the stars                                    110
3.1 Motion under gravity: weighing the Galaxy                  111
3.2 Why the Galaxy isn't bumpy: two-body relaxation            124
3.3 Orbits of disk stars: epicycles                            133
3.4 The collisionless Boltzmann equation                       140
4   Our backyard: the Local Group                              151
4.1 Satellites of the Milky Way                                156
4.2 Spirals of the Local Group                                 169
4.3 How did the Local Group galaxies form?                     172
4.4 Dwarf galaxies in the Local Group                          183
4.5 The past and future of the Local Group                     188
5   Spiral and S galaxies                                      191
5.1 The distribution of starlight                              192
5.2 Observing the gas                                          206
5.3 Gas motions and the masses of disk galaxies                214
5.4 Interlude: the sequence of disk galaxies                   222
5.5 Spiral arms and galactic bars                              225
5.6 Bulges and centers of disk galaxies                        236
6   Elliptical galaxies                                        241
6.1 Photometry                                                 242
6.2 Motions of the stars                                       254
6.3 Stellar populations and gas                                266
6.4 Dark matter and black holes                                273
7   Galaxy groups and lusters                                  278
7.1 Groups: the homes of disk galaxies                         279
7.2 Rich clusters: the domain of SO and elliptical galaxies    292
7.3 Galaxy formation: nature, nurture, or merger?              300
7.4 Intergalactic dark matter gravitational lensing            303
8   Large scale distribution of galaxies                       314
8.1 Large-scale structure today                                316
8.2 Expansion of a homogeneous Universe                        325
8.3 Observing the earliest galaxies                            335
8.4 Growth of structure: from small beginnings                 344
8.5 Growth of structure: clusters, walls, and voids            355
9   Active galactic nuclei and the early history of galaxies   365
9.1 Active galactic nuclei                                     366
9.2 Fast jets in active nuclei, microquasars, and γ-ray bursts 383
9.3 Extragalactic gas                                          390
9.4 The first galaxies                                         397

Course:ASTR300