00057 - Astronomy

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide the fundamental knowledge of the Earth, the Solar System, the Stars and the Galaxy, as well as the indispensable notions to describe the orbital motions (the two-body problem) and the astronomical observations, such as the determination of the position of cosmic objects, their distance and the measurement of the emitted radiation.

Course contents

- Fundamentals of spherical trigonometry. Astronomical coordinate systems. Apparent motions of celestial bodies. Perturbations of coordinates. Time and its measurement. Constellations.
- The motion of celestial bodies. The two-body problem. Kepler's laws. Introduction to the N-body problem.
- The Earth. Climatic zones, seasons, eclipses, and tides.
- The Solar System. The Moon. The motion of planets. Inner planets. Outer planets. Minor bodies. Origin of Solar System.
- Astronomical observations. The electromagnetic spectrum. Effects of terrestrial atmosphere. Types of terrestrial and space telescopes. Types of astronomical instruments and relative data.
- Radiation from astronomical objects. Definitions. Luminosity. Flux. Surface brightness. Spectra. Apparent and absolute magnitudes. Color indices. Extinction.
- Introduction to the black body radiation. Planck's law. Wien's law. Stefan-Boltzmann' s law.
- Introduction to atomic processes. Atomic structure. Electronic transitions. Spectral lines. Outline of thermodynamics.
- The spectral classification of stars. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
- The Sun. Structure. Outline of production and transfer of energy. Influence of the Sun on Earth.
- Binary stars. Classification. Mass estimate. The mass - luminosity relation.
- The evolutionary meaning of the H-R diagram.
- Variable stars.
- Stellar clusters and populations.
- Extrasolar planets.
- The interstellar medium. Atomic and molecular gas. Chemical enrichment. Gravitational collapse and star formation.
- Cosmic rays.
- Our Galaxy. Structure and components. Rotation curve. Dark matter. The Local Group.
- The cosmic distance ladder.
- Basics of astrobiology

Readings/Bibliography

Karttunen H. et al., "Fundamental Astronomy", Springer Verlag.
The slides showed during the course will be made available in order to follow the presented topics.

Teaching methods

Oral lectures.

Assessment methods

Oral exam.

Teaching tools

Traditional blackboard. Projector for computer presentations.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Cimatti