PH103: Introduction to Astronomy

1st Year Course syllabus (36 lectures)

• "Introductory Astronomy" by Keith Holliday, (Wiley)

1. Seeing into Space
   • Telescopes and light detection
   • Astronomy beyond the visible
2. The View from Earth
   • The celestial sphere
   • The rotating sky
   • Proper motion
3. The Sun, Stars and Time
   • Sidereal time
   • Solar time
   • Precession
4. Gravity and the Solar System
   • Kepler's Laws
   • Ocean tides
   • Planetary ring systems
   • Asteroids
   • The Roche limit
5. Origin of the Solar System
6. The Sun
   • Energy generation
   • Energy transport
   • The chromosphere
   • The Solar Wind
7. Studying Stars
   • Brightnesses
   • Spectroscopy
   • Sizes
   • HR diagram
   • Stellar Evolution
   • Endpoints of Stellar Evolution
8. Galaxies
9. Cosmology

Lecturer

Dr. Nicholas Devaney  Office: AO202 Phone: ext. 5188 Email: nicholas.devaneynuigalway.ie

Dr. Gary Gillanders  Office: 142 Phone: ext. 2529 Email: gary.gillandersnuigalway.ie

Dr. Andy Shearer  Office: 143 Phone: ext. 3114 Email: andy.shearernuigalway.ie

Centre for Astronomy (CfA), NUI Galway

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