ASTC25 Solar System and Stellar Astrophysics (syllabus with dates of lectures and exams)

This page provides some auxiliary JPG scans of notes, home assignements, student mini-projects, and other material.

Please note that other important information and messages can also be found on the intranet course page. You are EXPECTED to follow all the intranet page updates and announcements. Login as yourself onto the intranet page,

Lectures (Powerpoint + a few AVI/MPEG animations)

The lecture numbers should correspond to the lecture number in the syllabus (but in some cases doesn't).

Sample of Carroll & Ostlie - please read

Annotated copy of chapter 2 of Ostlie and Carroll's book can be downloaded from here (Powerpoint, 5.1MB), to help you improve your knowledge of the Kepler problem, Newtonian physics etc.

Problem sets

Preparation for the midterm exam

Here I've given the training set of quiz questions: Quiz questions without any answers. Use them first. Do the quiz without the help of the textbook.. Then you may decide to use the other two versions.
Quiz questions with Y/N answers but without highlighting of errors.
Quiz questions . This version with full answers.

Here is the set of written problems without answers, try to solve them with or without the help of the textbook (own notes will be allowed at modterm) Problems without solutions .
Here is the set of written problems with answers, problems + solutions .

Midterm 2012

Midterm (PDF) . Midterm with solutions (PDF) .

Preparation for the final exam

Quiz without solutions: PDF format . The same quiz with some solutions, PDF format .

As far as the problem set is concerned, please also remember to check the preparatory set for the midterm and ALL homeworks. For the quiz, read chapters 1-6, 9, 12, 17-18, 24-25 from the textbook. (On intranet I accidentally metioned chapt 1-3 instead of 1-4 as those related to 1st part of the course).
Problems without solutions: PDF format . The same problems with solutions, PDF format .

Final exam 2012

Midterm (PDF) .

Your points so far

Results (text file).

SMPs = Student mini-projects (PPT presentations + writeups)

ATMOSPHERES
Project on terrestrial atmospheres (slides?!) .docx
Project on terrestrial atmospheres (slides?!) .pdf
Project on terrestrial atmospheres - slides .ppt

RINGS
Project on planetary rings (writeup) .docx
Project on planetary rings (writeup) .pdf
Project on planetary rings - slides .ppt

LIFE, UNIVERSE and EVERYTHING
Project on SETI and Astrobiology (writeup) .pdf
Project on SETI and Astrobiology - slides .ppt

Useful or just interesting links about some stars and planets:

1. Solar Views = more multimedia including some movies, link
2. The extrasolar planets Wiki, link
3. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia, link
4. Theory of Planetary Systems group at Stockholm, link
5. Giant Planets Orbiting Faraway Stars - an article by Geof Marcy and paul Butler, link
6. Exploring New Worlds - an article by Ron Cowen, link
7. The Swiss site about exoplanets, link
8. A leading astronomical article/abstract database ADS from Harvard, link
9. Maps of our Solar System bodies, link
10. Solar System Orery, link
11. New STScI press releases, link
12. STScI Digital Sky Survey search form. Input ANY object's designation to get coordinates and .GIF picture, link
13. Migration Type III. Multimedia presentation by P. Artymowicz, link
14. KITP/UCSB 2004 conference on Planet Formation (abstracts, streaming audio & video) link
15. The new controversial definition of a planet, link
16. Upper mass limit for stars upheld!, link ...or maybe at 140 solar masses
17. First image of a planet around a sun-like star: link
18. First image of three planets around HR 8799 (also on wiki)
19. A bizzare sprinkler object: a dying star LL Pegasi in the constellation of a winged horse link (also here) .
20. A remarkably rich planetary system around HD 10180 (announced Aug 2010): 6+ superearths with no known giants link1, link2
21. Young stars with planet-forming disks in Orion link1, and listen to some theoretical concepts in link2,
22. Artist's impression of exoplanet HD209458b
23. Where did the Earth's atmosphere come from?
24. Where did the Earth's oceans come from? From degassing of meteorites? Or maybe from comets like Hartley 2 ?
25. Water around TW Hydrae
26. Plot the statistics of exoplanetary systems with this online tool

To the local home page of Pawel Artymowicz

last modified: March 2012

Lectures (Powerpoint + a few AVI/MPEG animations)

Sample of Carroll & Ostlie - please read

Problem sets

Set #1

Set #2

Set #3

Set #4

Set #5