The Galaxy (ASTM002 / MAS430)
This is the OLD website for the ASTM002/MAS430 The Galaxy module
at Queen Mary, University of London,
for the period September 2007 - May 2008.
The lecturer for the 2008-2009 academic year is
Dr. Richard Donnison.
Basic Information
- Semester 1 in 2007/2008 (27th September - 13th December, 2007)
- 1.0 course unit: 24 hours of lectures (or equivalent)
- Lecturer:
Bryn Jones
- 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoons in room G2, ground floor, School
of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile
End Road
- Core for MSc in Astrophysics (ASTM002)
-
Assessment method : examination (100 %)
Also available for:
- MSc in Mathematics (ASTM002), MSci in Mathematics (MAS430),
MSci in Astrophysics (MAS430), MSci in Physics (MAS430),
and some other MSci schemes (MAS430)
The location of the School of Mathematical Sciences is indicated here:
map 1;
map 2.
Room G2 is immediately on the left as you enter the door of the
building.
Lecturer contact details:
-
- E-mail address: Bryn.Jones [followed by @qmul.ac.uk]
- Office: room 355, School of Mathematical Sciences
- Telephone: 020 7882 5491
Exercise classes: Exercise classes have now been scheduled
for 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays in room G2 (where the lectures are
held). They will run each Tuesday until the end of the term.
The coursework problems will be discussed in these classes,
plus any general problems.
Details of
other lecture courses on the Queen Mary Astrophysics MSc/Postgraduate
Certificate programme are available.
Details of fourth-year MSci undergraduate modules are available in the
list of Queen Mary undergraduate mathematics modules.
General information on the Astrophysics MSc, the Postgraduate Certificate
in Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Mathematics MSc is available.
Course Aims and Objectives
The aims and objectives of the course are:
-
To understand the basics of galactic classification, and do simple
quantitative problems relating to this.
-
To understand the meaning of the collisionless Boltzmann equation and
its context. To be able to do simple problems involving Jeans
equations.
-
To have a qualitative understanding of emission processes in the
interstellar medium. To be able to do simple problems on metal
enrichment of the ISM.
-
Graphical ideas about the relation between disc mass and rotation
curve, and the signature of a dark halo.
-
A qualitative understanding of gravitational lensing. To be able to
do simple problems relating to MACHO surveys.
-
To understand the timing argument for the mass of the Milky Way.
Additional qualitative aspects of the dynamics of the Milky Way.
Syllabus
The material presented in this module consists of the following:
- Introduction: galaxy types, descriptive formation and dynamics.
- Stellar Dynamics: virial theorem, dynamical and relaxation
times, collisionless Boltzmann equation, orbits, simple distribution
functions, Jeans equations.
- The Interstellar Medium: emission processes from gas and dust
(qualitative only), models for chemical enrichment.
- Dark Matter - Rotation Curves:
bulge, disk, and halo contributions.
- Dark Matter - Gravitational Lensing: basic lensing theory,
microlensing optical depth.
- The Milky Way: mass via the timing argument, solar neighbourhood
kinematics, the bulge, the Sgr dwarf
Recommended books
The notes acompanying the course (available below) provide
detailed material, but the textbooks listed here provide
important supplementary information.
The main textbooks are:
-
J. Binney & M. R. Merrifield, Galactic Astronomy,
Princeton University Press, 1998
(a detailed review of the Galaxy
and galaxies in general, with summaries of results from the
research literature;
in the Main Library under QB855BIN).
-
J. Binney & S. Tremaine, Galactic Dynamics,
Princeton University Press, 1987
(a detailed review of the
theory of dynamics of stars within galaxies;
in the Main Library under QB855BIN).
Some other books that might be of use are:
-
L. Sparke & J. Gallagher, Galaxies in the Universe:
an Introduction,
Cambridge University Press, 2000
(a readable, but useful,
introduction to galaxies, including our Galaxy;
in the Main Library under QB855SPA in the general astronomy
section and in the Short Loan Collection).
-
G. Gilmore, I. King & P. van der Kruit, The Milky Way
as a Galaxy,
University Science Books, 1990,
previously published as the 19th Advanced Course of the
Swiss Society of Astrophysics and Astronomy (Saas-Fee),
publ. Geneva Observatory, Switzerland, 1989
(a detailed discussion of
the Galaxy with an observational emphasis;
in the Main Library in the Saas-Fee collection at the
start of the astronomy books under QB3 SAAS/19).
-
S. Phillipps, The Structure and Evolution of Galaxies,
publ. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., 2005
(a readable, but detailed introduction to galaxies in
general from an observational viewpoint).
-
D. Mihalas & J. Binney, Galactic Astronomy,
publ. W. H. Freeman and Company, 1981
(the predecessor to Binney & Merrifield, with a different
emphasis, but slightly dated;
in the Main Library under QB855MIH; it is itself a
greatly revised version of an earlier book
Galactic Astronomy by Mihalas and Routley).
Some basic material is given in F. Shu, The Physical Universe,
University Science Books: this may be of value for a summary of the
background to the subject.
Further material on the dynamics of stars can be found in
Dynamics of Galaxies by Giuseppe Bertin (Cambridge University
Press, 2000).
The material on galactic chemical evolution is covered in
depth in the book Nucleosynthesis and Chemical Evolution
of Galaxies by Bernard Pagel (Cambridge University Press, 1997).
Course Notes
We have developed a set of lecture notes for the course.
They are currently being updated and
the revised notes will be put here in sections following the
lectures.
The available sections are:
An older version of the entire course notes is available here
in the following formats:
These older notes are much briefer than the revised version but
may be useful for revision purposes.
Some of the overhead projector transparencies are available
here (in PDF format).
These may be of value for revision purposes, but their coverage of
the lecture material is very patchy.
See the Appendix below for information about how to handle these
formats.
Examples and Problems
Some examples and problems can be found embedded in the main part
of the course notes (above).
Some of these will be covered in the lectures, when solutions
will be given.
A set of problems can also be found in Appendix 3 of the course
notes (above).
Formal problems are not being set this year: problems will
not be used for assessment.
Past Examination Papers
Copies of past exam question papers are available on this web site:
Copies can also
be found at the Queen Mary Library website (the course is
called Galaxies there). See also
here for an older version.
The 2008 Examination
| Date : |
|
Friday, 30th May, 2008 |
| Time : |
|
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. |
| Room : |
|
Queen's Building EB1
|
| Duration : |
|
3h 00m |
(You should check these times with your printed examinations
timetable and with
the central College timetable).
Room EB1 in the Queen's Building is in the basement on the east
side. It can be found by entering the door halfway along the
east side of the Queen's building (near the Physics Department)
descending the stairs to the basement, and then turning right.
(The Queen's Building is the central stone-built structure
on Mile End Road, in front of the lawn and clock tower.)
The examination had the same format as the 2006 and 2007 papers
(and therefore a different format to 2005 and previous years).
This format is:
- there are 8 questions carrying 20 marks each;
- 5 questions must be attempted;
- calculators are permitted (some simple calculations will
be needed);
- marks are shown alongside questions;
- emphasis is given to testing how well candidates have met the
key objectives of the course.
A sample examination paper is available that shows the new (2006,
2007 and 2008) format.
Copies are available in
PDF format
and in
postscript format.
Revision lecture
The revision lecture took place between 12:00 noon
and 2:00 p.m. on
Thursday, 17th April, 2008, in room 103
(the Mathematics Seminar Room, where evening astrophysics
lectures take place).
Past examination papers were discussed and attempted.
Suggestions for good revision and examination practice are available
in
PDF format
and in
postscript format.
Copies of the May 2007 paper are available
in PDF format
and in Postscript format,
with answers
in PDF format
and in Postscript format.
Provisional results will be available after the Astrophysics
examination board meeting. The board meeting will take place on
in late June.
Appendix: useful information
Reading documents
The documents associated with this course are in PDF (Portable Document
Format) and Postscript format.
Readers for both formats are available as standard under Unix and
Linux, and include readers such as Ghostscript (and the Ghostview
interface) and Xpdf.
Adobe Acroread
is another PDF viewer available for free for use under Unix and Linux.
Under Windows, free Postscript viewers include
Ghostscript and an interface called
GSview.
Adobe Reader is a free PDF viewer.
Ghostscript
can display PDF format files as well as Postscript.