ASTRONOMY 616 - Spring 2009

Instructor: Dr. René Walterbos

Office: Department of Astronomy, Room 204

Phone: 646-5990

Email: rwalterb@nsmu.edu

Web page:  http:/home/httpd/html/rwalterb/a616

Class time: TuTh 1:10 2:25 pm in Astr 119
Office hours:  TBD, based on students' schedules. Also whenever my door is open or by appointment.

Recommend text books:

There is no formal text book for this course, however the following books, some of which you may already have, will prove veru useful and are pretty much required material if your research interests lie in the galaxies area.

Binney and Merrifield, Galactic Astronomy, Princeton University Press
Binney and Tremaine, Galactic Dynamics, Princeton University Press

Another books that may be useful:

Sparke and Gallagher, Galaxies in the Universe, an introduction, Cambridge University Press (an overview book at a lower level but with a lot of information and possibly a good introduction before to delve into the more technical books above).

Other useful resources: Link to webpages from Jon Holtzman for this course. (http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/holtz/a616/)
Jon usually teaches this course and we will largely follow his set of notes.

Note that the area of galaxy research is a rapidly expanding field than encompasses an enormous range of topics, from stellar evolution, interstellar medium, star formation, galaxy formation, dynamics and interactions, to galaxies as cosmological probes. No text book, nor this course, will provide a fully up-to-date view. For those doing research in galaxies, the only way to find out the latest results is to keep up with the ever growing literature which can be found through these two links:

ADS Abstract service
LANL Astrophysics Archive

You should have these bookmarked at the top of your list as the most important astronomy research tools (first thing to ask in research is always: someone must have already done this?!).

And this is the "to-go-to" web page if you need information on a particular galaxy in the sky:

NASA's Extragalactic Database (NED)

Grades will be based on:

Homework/paper/or project	40%
Midterm	30%
Final	30%

GENERAL INFORMATION AND REQUIREMENTS

1. Collaboration on work for the class only makes sense after you have tried seriously to work on it yourself. Otherwise, you will become dependent on others' contributions, and it will show during the midterm and final exam. While discussion of the assignments and class material may be very beneficial and is generally encouraged, the work you turn in must be your own, so do not copy someone else's work. You will generally have ample time for the homework.  Late homeworks will only be considered if you have appropriate reasons and have discussed these with me; late homeworks cannot be accepted once the assignment has been returned and discussed in class.
   
2. I am considering assigning as the major homework the writing of a paper in ApJ Letter format that discusses actual scientific research, e.g. based on the Sloan Data Base, but this may be too ambitious. Either way, I expect to have some student presentations at the end of the semester on some research or paper related to the course. Details TBD.
   
3. Class attendance is strongly encouraged. In class we will have time to discuss the subtler points not illuminated in the notes, and you will benefit from the discussion of the material and the questions asked by you and others.
   
4. We will have one midterm, date TBD in consultation with students. The final exam may be oral or written, we can discuss that during the semester. It will be scheduled during finals week.
5. SSD. If you have a disability that interferes with your academic progress, please contact Services for Students with Disabilities for an appointment to discuss accommodation.