Syllabus
ABCD Card

Galaxies are massive collections of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter. They are both the birthplace of stars and planets and the signposts of the universe. By studying what happens inside galaxies, we are able to understand the conditions under which stars form. By studying the galaxies themselves, we can understand how the environment shapes their structure and makeup. By studying the distribution of galaxies, we gain insight into the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. In this class, we will undertake a detailed, quantitative study of galaxies, with particular attention to the environment in which galaxies form and evolve and their place in the universe as a whole.

The schedule for the course is below. Note that links to problem sets and materials will become active as the term goes on.

Week of	Topic	Reading	Problem Sets
Aug 31	Foundations & Fundamentals	Ch. 1
Sept 7	Light and Catalogs	Ch. 1	Problem Set 1
Sept 14	The Milky Way 30MA: NED	Ch. 2
Sept 21	Properties of Large Galaxies 30MA: Gnuplot (Datafile, Guide to Gnuplot)	Ch. 3.1 – 3.3	Problem Set 2
Sept 28	Scaling Relations and Galaxy Populations 30MA: Galaxy Zoo	Ch. 3.4 – 3.8	Problem Set 3
Oct 5	Integrated Spectra and the ISM	Ch. 3.9 – 3.10	Problem Set 4 Python Notebook (right click -> “Save Link As”) SDSS Images (right click -> “Save Link As”): NGC 5831 NGC 7817
Oct 12	Review (Monday), Exam (Thursday) Equation Sheet
Oct 19	Dark Matter in Galaxies
Oct 26	AGN	Ch. 5
Nov 2	AGN (cont.) + Dark Matter	Ch. 5	Problem Set 5
Nov 9	Large Scale Structure	Ch. 6
Nov 16	Galaxy Evolution	Ch. 6
Nov 23	Cosmology	Ch. 4 & 7
Nov 30	Cosmology (cont.)	Ch. 4 & 7
Dec 7	Review + Exam