Galaxies and their Place in the Universe
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.
2023 teaching periods
| Hawthorn HOL Study Period 3 |
||
|---|---|---|
Dates: Results: Last self enrolment: Census: Last withdraw without fail: |
Prerequisites
Corequisites
Aims and objectives
This Unit aims to provide an introduction to galaxies and galaxy clustering, theories of dark matter, galaxy formation and evolution.
Objectives (Unit Learning Outcomes)
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
1. Identify the “big questions” in galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and recognise the current state of our knowledge on these questions
2. Explain and summarise the concepts of galaxy formation and evolution
3. Distinguish the way galaxies are classified and differentiate the approaches used to discover their properties
4. Appraise and state the basic principles and concepts about our and other galaxies, their properties and their constituents in a non-technical way understandable to the wider public
5. Use problem solving skills to explain and synthesise solutions to problems in galactic and extragalactic 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 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 |
Content
• The structure and classification of normal galaxies: spiral, elliptical & irregular galaxies, Hubble's classification
• Estimating galactic distances: standard candles, sizes and masses, redshifts & Hubble's Law
• Galactic structures: the Local Group, dwarf galaxies, dark matter in clusters, superclusters & voids
• Star formation: measuring rates and evolution, techniques and relationships
• Quasars and active galaxies: host galaxies, radio and Seyfert galaxies, unified active galactic nuclei model, black holes, gravitational lensing
• Interacting galaxies, galactic cannibalism & mergers, starburst galaxies, modelling galaxy interactions
• Galaxy formation and evolution, fluctuations and galaxy seeds, Jeans mass, N-body simulations, Cold Dark Matter
• The first stars and galaxies: the dark ages, Population III stars, galaxies and quasars at high redshift, the evolution of clusters, faint blue galaxies
• Quasar absorbers, evolution of gas in the Universe, the intergalactic medium.
Study resources
- Reading materials.