When: Fall 2008, MWF 2:10-3pm
Where: 6638 Stevenson
Textbook: "Stellar Interiors" by Hansen, Kawaler, & Trimble (Springer - second edition)
| Other helpful books: | "Stellar Structure and Evolution" by Kippenhahn & Weigert (Springer). |
| "Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis" by Clayton (Chicago Press) |
Syllabus and Course Info: syllabus
Preprint Archive: http://arXiv.org/list/astro-ph/recent
Lecture Slides: slides
Week 1: August 25-29
| Topics: | The equations of stellar structure, spectral classification |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 1 |
Week 2: September 1-5
| Topics: | Stellar Populations, Hertzprung-Russell diagram, measuring stellar properties. |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 1 |
| Assignment: |
Problem set #1 due Friday, September 19: Problem Set 1
For the problem set, you will need these files: cluster.dat, BV_filters.dat, star1, star2, star10, star12, star13. |
Week 3: September 8-12
| Topics: | The virial theorem and applications. |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 1, beginning of chapter 3. |
Week 4: September 15-19
| Topics: | Equations of state. |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 3 |
| Assignment: | Problem set #2 due Wednesday, October 1: Problem Set 2 |
Week 5: September 22-26
| Topics: | Equations of State. Boltzmann and Saha equations |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 3 |
Week 6: September 29 - October 3
| Topics: | Boltzmann and Saha equations |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 3 |
Week 7: October 6-10
| Topics: | Polytropes, Radiative Transfer |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 7 & 4 |
| Assignment: | Problem set #3 due Friday, October 17: Problem Set 3 |
Week 8: October 13-17
| Topics: | Radiative transfer, Opacity sources, Conduction, Opacity Tables |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 4 |
| Assignment: |
Problem Set #4 due Friday, October 31: Problem Set 4
For this problem set, you will need the OPAL opacity tables here: http://physci.llnl.gov/Research/OPAL/existing.html |
Week 9: October 20-24
| Topics: | Convection |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 5 |
Week 10: October 28-31
| Topics: | Convection |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 5 |
Week 11: November 3-7
| Topics: | Convection, Energy Generation |
| Reading: | HKT, chapters 5 & 6 |
| Assignment: | Problem Set #5 due Friday, November 21: Problem Set 5 |
Week 12: November 10-14
| Topics: | Nuclear reactions |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 6 |
Week 13: November 17-21
| Topics: | Nuclear reactions |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 6 |
Week 14: November 24-28
| Topics: | Stellar models |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 7 |
| Assignment: | Final Project due Thursday, December 18: Final Project |
Week 13: December 1-5
| Topics: | Stellar evolution |
| Reading: | HKT, chapter 2 |