Astronomy 128: Galaxies and Galactic Structure

Week 12:

• The problem set for this week, on active galactic nuclei (AGN).

Here is the list of presentation topics, with tentative assignments based on what you've told me so far:

1. Starburst galaxies. (Saurav)
2. Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields.
3. High velocity HI clouds (HVC's). (Victoria)
4. Galaxy evolution and the first galaxies. (Vernon)
5. High-z supernovae and measuring the acceleration of the Universe. (Steve)
6. Intergalactic gas: Absorption lines in quasar spectra, the "Lyman-alpha forest", the Gunn-Petersen effect, and cosmic re-ionization. (Michael)
7. The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. (Micah)
8. Photometric vs. spectroscopic redshifts, and "k corrections".
9. The center of the Milky Way (Sagittarius A*). (Tara)

Week 11:

• The problem set for this week, on large-scale structure.

Week 10:

• The problem set for this week, with more on elliptical galaxies, and galaxy clusters.

Week 9:

• The midterm exam was this week.

Week 8:

• The problem set for this week, on elliptical galaxies, as well as some review for the midterm exam.

Week 7:

• The problem set for this week, on theories of spiral structure, bars, bulges, and central black holes in spiral galaxies. Note that there are relevant errata for several of the problems.

Week 6:

• The problem set for this week, on spiral galaxies beyond the Local Group. The Java applet (on fitting disk-halo models to galaxy rotation curves) for one of the problems is here. Note that there are relevant errata for several of the problems.

Week 5:

• The problem set for this week, on the Local Group. To stake your claim to a particular Local Group galaxy for one of the problems, log into Blackboard and post your choice on the course discussion board there. Also, I need a volunteer to report on this week's journal article.

Week 4:

• The problem set for this week, on galactic dynamics.

Week 3:

• The problem set for this week, on rotation in the Milky Way - mapping the gas using HI, Oort constants, evidence for dark matter, microlensing.
• The light curve you need to consult for problem 11 is here, and more information about the MACHO project can be found a bit farther up that directory.

Week 2:

• The problem set for this week.
• The Hipparcos data: hipparcos.fits (catalog in FITS binary table format; 33 MB), hip_main.dat (catalog in text format; 51 MB), ReadMe_hipparcos (explanatory notes for the catalog).

Week 1:

• The problem set for this week.
• The globular cluster data file necessary for problem 6.