ASTRO 1500: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Credits: 3.
For the nonscientist. A survey of astronomy with a focus on the universe beyond our solar system. Basic observational astronomy and the history of astronomy. Stellar astronomy: motions, distances, sizes, spectra; types of stars; variability; binary systems. Stellar evolution: the birth, life, and death of stars, including supernovae, neutron stars, and black holes. The structure and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy. Other galaxies, clusters of galaxies, quasars. Theories of the origin of the universe. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)