Astronomy 123: Stellar Astrophysics

Archive of Assignments

 

Week 13

Read the thirteenth assignment [pdf] and solve the problems, answer the questions, and prepare for discussion in Friday's seminar. No warm-up problems this week, but I have asked you to send me a couple of plots by noon on Thursday. This week there are fewer questions, more mutli-part, and some interpretation in addition to problem solving.

And here are the Oslie and Carroll appendices you'll need for star data to solve a couple of the problems: main sequence properties [pdf] and supergiant properties [pdf] for your reference. The reading – Lamers and Cassinelli's Introduction to Stellar Winds – is available in electronic form from the library.

Week 12

Read the twelfth assignment [pdf] and solve the problems and prepare for discussion in Friday's seminar. Two warm-up problems this week.

As part of the assignment this week, look at the chart of nuclides and think about the information it's telling us: chart and wikipedia page.

And here are the problems from the end of Ch. 16 of Oslie and Carroll [pdf]. New: All of Ch. 16 [pdf] for your reference.

Week 11

Read the eleventh assignment [pdf] and solve the problems and prepare for discussion in Friday's seminar. Two warm-up problems this week. Here is the Ostlie and Carroll reading on the pressure integral (pp. 289-91) [pdf]. New: You can also read the subsection in Ostlie and Carroll on degeneracy (pp. 563-69) [pdf].

Week 10

Read the tenth assignment [pdf] and solve the problems. Only one warm-up problem this week. In addition to the textbook reading, you should review these notes on thermodynamics [pdf] to help you think about the polytropic index. note: I may add some more un-numbered questions to the assignment – to inspire discussion in our seminar meeting.

Week 9

Read the ninth assignment [pdf] and solve the problems. One presentation this week and two warmup problems.

Week 8

Sign up at any point for an exam time slot - there are plenty - on this shared doc. I'll post detailed information about the exam, including problems to think about and maybe even solve ahead of time that can serve as jumping off points for the oral exam. I anticipate that each in-person meeting will last about 45 minutes, but the time slots are implicitly an hour long. I'll also have your xeroxed work from earlier weeks for you to pick up on Monday. New: Read the guidelines and problems [pdf] for the exam.

Week 7

Read the seventh assignment [pdf] and solve the problems -- and also think about the more-than-usual un-numbered questions-for-discussion-in-seminar. Right now, I haven't designated any warmup problems, but I may early in the week designate one or two and also share a small amount of outside reading with you. You can read the random-walk text from OC [pdf], useful for problem Q0 (last week's un-discussed Q9).

Week 6

Read the sixth assignment [pdf] and solve the problems. A tiny bit of coding this week and three warmup problems. Be ready to discuss the reading, not just the problems, in seminar. Update: You can read the random-walk text from OC [pdf], useful for problem Q9.

Week 5

Read the fifth assignment [pdf] get ready to go over some of the radiation transport concepts we were introduced to last week and to solve some more problems! Update: For your convenience, the two stream approximation figure.

Week 4

In this week's seminar meeting and fourth assignment [pdf] we get into radiation transport. We'll be reading the first half of chapter 3; there are a couple of warm-up problem due on Thursday.

Week 3

In the third seminar meeting and third assignment [pdf] focus on star formation and several important physical principles and tools that we'll see later in the semester too (HSEQ, the virial theorem). There are a couple of warmup problems due on Thursday.

Week 2

In the second seminar meeting – the assignment [pdf] focuses on the physics of the spectral type in the second half of Ch. 1 of LeBlanc, supplemented by M. Richmond's lecture notes on stellar spectral classification. There are two warmup problems due on Thursday. The images of stellar spectra – B0 to O5 stars and different luminosity classes – demonstrate the variation of line properties across stars (see problems 6 and 7).

The four pages of questions and problems handed out in the last seminar [pdf] are something you should bring to seminar this week, ready to discuss and solve.

Week 1

Our first seminar meeting – and first seminar assignment [pdf] – will focus on the first half of Ch. 1 of LeBlanc. Note that the assignment includes a few pre-seminar "warm-up" problems (due at lunchtime on Thursday) as well as problems you'll present in our seminar meeting. The assignment also includes questions you'll think about ahead of time and makes some notes about and discuss in seminar but not hand anything in for.

The short reading from Ostlie and Carroll is available here as a pdf. As is problem 3.9 [pdf] from that textbook.


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This page is maintained by David Cohen
cohen -at- astro -dot- swarthmore -dot- edu

Last modified: April 30, 2019