ASTR3007/4007/6007 (Part I) -- The Stars
Semester 1, 2017
Class meeting times
Lectures: Thursday, 10 AM - 11 AM, Friday 10 AM - 12 PM,
Hancock 2.24
Tutorials: Thursday 11 AM - 12 PM, Gould 113
Syllabus (PDF)
Topics
This part of the course provides an introduction to stellar structure and evolution. We will begin with a brief review of observations of stars and what they tell us. Then we discuss the physical processes that govern the behaviour of stars, followed by an application of these prin- ciples to develop a theory for the structure of main sequence stars. We will end this part of the course with a discussion of stellar evolution and the stellar life cycle.
Texts
Our main textbook for the class will be An Introduction to the Theory of Stellar Structure and Evolution, by Dina Prialnik. This books is available in two editions, and either one is fine for the class. For a more extensive treatment of stars and stellar structure at roughly the same level of sophistication, you can consult An Introduction to Modern Stellar Astrophysics, by Dale Ostlie and Bradley Carroll. A graduate-level treatment is given in Stellar Structure and Evolution by Kippenhahn and Weigert.
Assignments
There will be 3 problem sets during this part of the course. The problem sets and their due dates will be posted below in the course schedule. Each of the three assignments is worth 1/3 of the grade for this part of the course. The assignments include extra problems for tudents enrolled in ASTR4007.
Students enrolled in ASTR6007 must complete an additional written paper as part of the course. I will meet with students in this situation individually during the first teaching week to choose topics.
Class-by-Class Topics and Reading
| Date | Topic | Reading | Assignments / downloads |
| Feb. 23 | Lecture 1: Observing the stars | ||
| Feb. 23 | Tutorial 1: What stars are made of | Solar spectrum: CaK, NaD2, Halpha | |
| Feb. 24 | Lecture 2: Stellar masses; the virial theorem | Chapter 1 | |
| Mar. 2 | Lecture 3: Principles of stellar evolution | ||
| Mar. 2 | Tutorial 2: Polytropes | ||
| Mar. 3 | Lecture 4: The equation of state | Chapters 2, 3 | |
| Mar. 9 | Lecture 5: Energy, entropy, and transport | Problem set 1 due | |
| Mar. 9 | Tutorial 3: Radiation pressure | ||
| Mar. 10 | Lecture 6: Nuclear reactions | Chapter 4 | |
| Mar. 16 | Lecture 7: Simple stellar models | ||
| Mar. 16 | Tutorial 4: Deuterium burning in protostars | ||
| Mar. 17 | Lecture 8: Stability and convection | Chapters 5, 6 | |
| Mar. 23 | Lecture 9: The main sequence | Problem set 2 due | |
| Mar. 23 | Tutorial 5: Shell burning | ||
| Mar. 24 | Lecture 10: Low mass stellar evolution | Chapter 7 | |
| Mar. 30 | Lecture 11: Massive stellar evolution | ||
| Mar. 30 | Tutorial 6: Degenerate demographics | ||
| Mar. 31 | Lecture 12: Supernovae and compact objects | Chapters 9, 10 | |
| Apr. 17 | Problem set 3 due |