Galactic Astronomy
General Information
Estimated learning time
Competences / Learning outcomes
Learning objectives
Teaching blocks
Teaching methods and general organization
Official assessment of learning outcomes
Reading and study resources
General Information
| Course unit name | Galactic Astronomy |
| Course unit code | 568426 |
| Academic year | 2024/2025 |
| Coordinator | Maria Teresa Antoja Castelltort |
| Department | Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics |
| Credits | 6 |
| Single program | S |
Estimated learning time
| Activities | Type of training | Hours | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face-to-face and/or online activities | 52 | ||
| - Lecture | Face-to-face | 48 | |
| - Special practices | Face-to-face | 4 | |
| Supervised project | 18 | ||
| Independent learning | 80 |
Competences / Learning outcomes to be gained during study
- — Capacity to acquire basic knowledge of galactic astronomy.
— Capacity to undertake a doctoral thesis related to the field of study.
— Capacity to pursue a research project.
Teaching blocks
1 Introduction
2 Astronomical units
3 Stellar statistics
4 Galactic kinematics
5 The orbits of the stars in the galactic potential
6 Fundamental equations of stellar dynamics
7 Introduction to the chemical evolution of galaxies
8 Collisions and encounters of stellar systems
Teaching methods and general organization
— Lectures
— Presentation of assignments
— Practical exercises on a laptop
— Discussion of recently published articles
Note that the number of face-to-face hours offered on this course may be modified in the event of a health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. If this happens, any changes to the programme will be published on the UB’s Virtual Campus.
Official assessment of learning outcomes
The students complete teacher-assigned tasks, deliver an oral presentation in front of the rest of the class and engage in hands-on activities of different kinds for 40% of the final mark.
The remaining 60% goes to an end-of-course written examination that the students must pass to pass the course.
Repeat assessment
The students sit an end-of-course written examination as they did during the continuous assessment but for 100% of the final mark.
The single assessment consists of written examination.
Reading and study resources
BINNEY, JAMES, 1950- ; MERRIFIELD, MICHAEL..
Galactic astronomy. Princeton : Princeton University
Press, cop. 1998
BINNEY, JAMES, 1950- ; TREMAINE, SCOTT, 1950-.
Galactic dynamics. (2nd ed. Princeton : Princeton
University Press, 2008
1a ed.
MIHALAS, DIMITRI, 1939-. ; BINNEY, J.AMES, 1950-.
Galactic astronomy: structre and kinematics. 2nd ed.
San Francisco : Freeman, cop. 1981
SCHEFFLER, HELMUT ; ELSÄSSER, HANS, 1929-.
Physics of the galaxy and interstellar matter.
Berlin : Springer, 1988