| Course Title: Astrophysics III |
| Start Date: 01/27/2026 End Date: 05/12/2026 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2026 |
| Description: This advanced course will cover physical processes in the gaseous interstellar medium, including photoionization in HII regions and planetary nebulae, shocks in supernova remnants and stellar jets, and energy balance in molecular clouds. Dynamics of stellar systems, star clusters, and the viral theorem will also be discussed, along with galaxy rotation and the presence of dark matter in the universe, as well as spiral density waves. The course concludes with quasars and active galactic nuclei, synchrotron radiation, accretion disks, and supermassive black holes. |
| Distribution(s): II - Math & Sciences |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Katie Lester | klester@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 01/27/2026 - 05/12/2026 | Lecture | Monday and Wednesday | 11:30AM - 12:45PM | KNDD - Kendade | 203 | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: ASTR-335 or two Physics courses at the 200 or 300 level. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open | Capacity: 18 | Enrollment: 11 | Available: 7 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| Title: Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology Author: Schneider, Copyright: 2016 Edition: 2 Volume: ISBN: 9783662500606 Publisher: Springer |
Optional | 55.00 |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is the complete book list for this class. |
| Instructor's comments about the book list: PDF copy available through MHC access at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-54083-7 |