In ASTR 300, we begin by looking at our solar system as a whole to understand the basic processes that are occurring within it. Then we move outward to learn about the stars: why they shine, what they are like, and where they are. During our explorations, we will use our Sun as our standard to which we compare other stars. We will explore how stars are formed and how they die. After stars die, they become one of several exotic types of objects: white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes, and we will learn about each of these.
In the next part of the course, we will think about large groups of
stars: galaxies. We will learn about our own galaxy, the Milky Way,
as well as other galaxies. We will see that galaxies also change over
time, and we will study how those changes occur through supermassive
black holes and galaxy collisions. We will discover that most
galaxies are made primarily of dark matter. Finally, at the end of
the class, we will learn about the expansion of the universe that was
discovered by the motions of galaxies and consider the possible fates
of the universe.
The image in the background of this page was taken by Debra Meloy
Elmegreen and colleges at Vassar College and the Hubble Heritage Team
at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
The material on these webpages is Copyright © 2006 by Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke and may not be reproduced without my permission.