AY 202a --- Galaxies and Dynamics

Harvard Department of Astronomy (Catalog #8237), Fall Term 2009/10

Professor	John Huchra	Observatory P-309	495-7375	huchra@cfa.harvard.edu
TA	Joey Munoz	Observatory P-203	495-9501	jamunoz@cfa.harvard.edu
John's Assistant	Lisa Catella	Observatory P-323	495-7390	lcatella@cfa.harvard.edu

The class meets Monday+Wednesday 10:15-11:45 A.M. in the Observatory Classroom (in A building).
First meeting Wednesday, September 2th.

The goal of this course is to provide students with an overview of extragalactic astronomy and the astrophysics that describes the workings of galaxies. We will study the basics of extragalactic astronomy, the properties of galaxies and galactic nuclei, stellar and gas dynamics, clusters of galaxies, the large scale distribution of galaxies and galaxy clusters and their use as cosmological tools. Further details of mathematical cosmology and observations will be provided in AY202b in the following spring term.

We will use Peter Schneider's Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology as the primary textbook (ISBN-10 3-540-33174-3, Springer), and will also cover some material from two other very useful texts, Binney & Tremaine's Galactic Dynamics (ISBN , Princeton) and Binney & Merrifield's Galactic Astronomy (ISBN , Princeton). Both of these are well worth having on your astronomical bookshelf and can be obtained at several booksellers including the COOP. (see links on JPH's homepage for alternatives).

The course will be graded in part on problem sets (50%), class participation (10%) and the take home final exam (40%). We will experiment with reading a "paper of the week," either a classic in extragalactic astronomy or a recent ArXiv preprint relevant to the topics under discussion at the time.

Below are the course syllabus and draft lecture schedule followed by a set of useful links and an (moderately complete) list of references and texts relevant to the material.

Course Outline

Syllabus (PS)

Syllabus (PDF)

Schedule & Readings:

Date		Topic	Suggested Readings


		Introduction (4 Lectures)
Sept 2	---	Intro, History, Newtonian Cosmology	S 4.1+4.2
Sept 9	---	Extragalactic Astronomy, Galaxy Morphology	S 1.1+1.2, BM 1 & 2
Sept 14	---	Galaxy Morphology & Structure, the Milky Way	S 2.1-2.4, S 3.1, BM 10
Sept 16	---	Stellar & Gaseous Content	BM 5.1+5.2, BM 8
		Dynamics (6 Lectures)
Sept 21	---	Structure & Dynamics of Ellptical Galaxies	S 3.2
Sept 23	---	Structure & Dynamics of Elliptical Galaxies	BT 2.1-2.5
Sept 28	---	Structure & Dynamics of Spiral Galaxies	S 3.3
Sept 30	---	Structure & Dynamics of Spiral Galaxies	BT 6.1-6.3
Oct 5	---	Numerical Simulations (JM)	BT 2.9, 3.4
Oct 7	---	Scaling Relations & Dynamics	S 3.4
Oct 12	---	COLUMBUS DAY --- NO CLASS
		Galaxy Masses and Omega (2 Lectures)
Oct 14	---	Galaxy Mass & Luminosity Functions	S 3.7
Oct 19	---	Gravitational Lensing (JM)	S 3.8, BM
		Galaxy Nuclei & AGN (3 Lectures)
Oct 21	---	Galaxy Centers & Black Holes	S 2.6, S 3.5
Oct 26	---	Active Galaxies: Zoology	S 5.1-5.4
Oct 28	---	Active Galaxies: The Unified Model	S 5.5-5.6
		Clustering (5 Lectures)
Nov 2	---	The Local and Other Groups	S 6..1
Nov 4	---	Galaxy Clusters	S 6.2-6.3
Nov 9	---	Galaxy Clusters & Cosmology	S 6.4-6.6
Nov 11	---	VETERANS DAY -- NO CLASS
Nov 16	---	Large Scale Structure (Galaxies)	S 8.1
Nov 18	---	Large Scale Structure (Galaxy Motions)	S 8.5
		Galaxy Formation & Evolution (3 Lectures)
Nov 23	---	Galaxy Formation & Evolution	S 7.1-7.5, S 3.9-3.10, BT 9
Nov 25	---	Galaxy Formation and Evolution	S 9.1-9.2
Nov 30	---	Gas -- Chemical Evolition / Ly a Forest	S 8.5
		Distances & the Expansion of the Univese
Dec 2	---	The Cosmic Distance Scale	S 3.6, BM 7
		Reading Period Begins December 4th
		Readings are from:
S =	---	Schneider, Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology
BT =	---	Binney & Tremaine, Galactic Dynamics
BM =	---	Binney & Merrifield, Galactic Astronomy