AST 513: Stellar Systems

Fall 2005

All this information is subject to change.

Schedule:

Monday, Wednesday 2:00-3:20, Library seminar room, Peyton Hall
Occasional makeup lectures will be held on Friday at the same time and place, so please
keep this time free.

The preliminary schedule below gives Mondays and Wednesdays on which there is no
class and the corresponding makeup classes on Fridays

Textbooks:

Binney, J., and Merrifield, M. 1998, Galactic Astronomy (Princeton: Princeton University Press)
- errors or misprints should be sent to binney@thphys.ox.ac.uk

Binney, J. and Tremaine, S. 1987, Galactic Dynamics (Princeton: Princeton University Press)
Please report any significant errors or suggestions for improvements.

Other books on reserve:

Elmegreen, D. 1998, Galaxies and Galactic Structure (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall)
Heggie, D., and Hut, P. 2003, The Gravitational Million-Body Problem (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Sparke, L., and Gallagher, J. 2000, Galaxies in the Universe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Spitzer, L. 1987, Dynamical Evolution of Globular Clusters (Princeton: Princeton University Press)

Course requirements and grading

five problem sets (50% of grade)
final written examination (50% of grade; held in January)

Instructor:

Scott Tremaine, Peyton Hall 113, 8-3800, tremaine@astro.princeton.edu

Schedule

Date Topic Reading

Mon Sep 19     Overview of a typical galaxy               BM 1
Wed Sep 21     Astronomical measurements. 1               BM 2.1-2.3              slides for 9/19 - 9/28
Mon Sep 26    Astronomical measurements. 2               BM 2.1-2.3
Wed Sep 28     Astronomical measurements. 3               BM 3.6-3.7
                                       assignment 1 is here (text and images)
Mon Oct 3     Introduction to stellar dynamics I         BT 2.0, 2.1, 4.0, 8.1.1
Wed Oct 5 Introduction to stellar dynamics II    BT 3.1, 4.1, Appendix 1.E
Mon Oct 10     Spherical stellar systems                  BT 4.4, 4.7.1Wed Oct 12     Jeans equations (assignment 1 due)                  BT 4.2, 4.3
Mon Oct 17 Galaxy morphology    BM 4.1    slides for this lecture
                                        assignment 2 is here Wed Oct 19 The Local Group    BM 4.1.4, BT 10.2.1
Mon Oct 24    Galaxy photometry                          BM 4.2, 4.3
Wed Oct 26    Galaxy photometry (assignment 2 due)       BM 4.2, 4.3             slides for 10/19 - 10/26

                                                  Fall recess

Mon Nov 7     Galaxy photometry                          BM 4.2, 4.3                     assignment 3 is hereWed Nov 10     Potential theory in non-spherical systems BT 2.2-2.4, 2.6
Mon Nov 14 no classWed Nov 16 Orbits in axisymmetric galaxies    BT 3.1 Fri Nov 18 Orbits in axisymmetric galaxies    BT 3.1
Mon Nov 21 no class Wed Nov 23     no class (assignment 3 due)
Mon Nov 28 Orbits in non-axisymmetric galaxies    BT 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.4 Wed Nov 30     Schwarzschild's method                     BT 4.5.3, 4.6.4 Fri Dec 2    Rotation of the Milky Way    BM 9.1, 9.2             slides for 11/16 - 12/2
Mon Dec 5    Dynamics of the solar neighborhood BT 4.2.1, BM 10.3     assignment 4 is here
Wed Dec 7    Stability, disk dynamics, and BT 5.1, 5.3.1, 6.1-6.3                                        spiral structure
Mon Dec 12 no class
Wed Dec 14 Mergers and dynamical friction BT 7.1, 7.4, BM 4.6.1 Fri Dec 16     no class, assignment 4 due    slides for 12/5 - 12/14 assignment 5 is here Wed Jan 4    Tides    BT 7.3, BM 6.2.2 Fri Jan 6      Globular clusters (assignment 5 due)       BT Ch 8, BM 4.5,6.1     slides for 1/4 - 1/6

Fri Jan 20 final exam 2-5 pm