Exploring Stars and the Milky Way
Duration
- 1 Semester
Contact hours
- 150 contact hours - Online
On-campus unit delivery combines face-to-face and digital learning. For Online unit delivery, learning is conducted exclusively online.
Prerequisites
NilCorequisites
Nil
Aims and objectives
This Unit aims to provide an introduction to the birth, life and death of stars and the structure of our Galaxy. The emphasis will be on conceptual astronomy rather than mathematical techniques.
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
1. Identify the way stars are classified and recognise the approaches used to discover their properties
2. Explain and summarise the principles involved in the life cycle of stars, from protostar to stellar remnants
3. Appraise and state the basic principles and concepts about our Galaxy and its constituents (stars, protostars, stellar remnants, gas clouds, dark matter) in a non- technical way understandable to the wider public
4. Judge the limits of our understanding of our place in the Galaxy, and interpret the role of dark matter in modern astronomical theories
5. Use problem solving skills to explain and synthesise solutions to problems in stellar astronomy
6. Design and create an essay on an astronomy topic, assessing and critiquing current knowledge, using credible sources of astronomical information and research articles
Unit information in detail
- Teaching methods, assessment, general skills outcomes and content.
Teaching methods
Type | Hours per week | Number of Weeks | Total |
Online Contact Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 12.5 | 12 | 150 |
TOTAL | 150 hours |
Assessment
| Types | Individual or Group task | Weighting | Assesses attainment of these ULOs |
| Computer Managed Tests | Individual | 20% | 1,2,3,5 |
| Newsgroups | Individual | 30% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Essay | Individual | 50% | 6 |
General skills outcomes
During this unit students will receive feedback on the following key generic skills:
· Analysis Skills
· Problem Solving Skills
· Communication Skills
· Ability to tackle unfamiliar problems
· Ability to work independently
Content
• The bulk properties & structure of the Sun
• Distance, magnitudes, colours and luminosity of stars
• Spectral lines and spectral types of the stars
• The interstellar medium and the birth of stars
• The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and the ZAMS
• Life on the main sequence, lifetime and mass-luminosity relations
• Evolution of a 1 solar mass star: red giants, planetary nebulae and white dwarfs
• Variable stars
• Supernovae, supernovae remnants and creation of the elements
• End products: neutron stars, pulsars, black holes
• Gamma ray bursts: observations and theory
• Binary star systems, open clusters and globular clusters
• The structure of the Milky Way, the galactic centre, dark matter
Study resources
- References.