Date                             Topic                    Reading Assignment

Wednesday, March 3  The Sun (a typical star)              Chapter 15

                      What do you already know about the Sun?
                      A tour of the Sun                   sections 15.2,15.4,15.5
                    Stellar Structure: The Sun 
                      Pressure and Gravity                sections 15.1,11.1,5.3
                      Energy Source (nuclear fusion)      sections 15.3,S4.2,S4.3
                      Star Assignment 1 due

Monday, March 15    Stellar Structure (continued)
                      Energy Loss (radiation & convection)section 10.2,11.3,15.2,15.4
                      Structure         
                         Determined by two balance conditions:
                           pressure and gravity           section 15.1
                           energy generation and loss     section 15.3
                      Tests:
                           oscillations (helioseismology),section 15.3
                           neutrino experiments           section 15.3
                      Star Assignment 2 due

Wednesday, March 17 Observing Stars                       Chapter 16 
                      Luminosity = rate of energy loss 
                         Brightness                       section 16.2
                           farther = fainter
                         Distances by parallax            section 16.2          
                         Number - luminosity relation
                      Surface temperature of stars        section 16.3
                         Color -> temperature
                         Spectra -> temperature, composition & density
                      mass of stars                       section 16.4
                         binary stars, Doppler shift      section 6.5
                         mass/luminosity relation
                      Planet project 6 due
                      Star Assignment 3 due

Monday, March 22    Quiz 2: (Warm-up for Exam 2)          Chapters 9-11,15,16
                    Review                                Chapters 9-11,15,16
                      Star Assignment 4 due

Wednesday, March 24 Mid Term Exam #2                      Chapters 9-11,15,16

Monday, March 29    Observing Stars (continued)           Chapter16
                      Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram         section 16.5, 
                                                          Fig. 16.10
                      Stellar Lifetimes
                      Star Assignment 5 due

Wednesday, March 31 Stellar Evolution                     Chapter 17, Fig 17.26
                      Birth                               section 17.1
                      Maturity: core hydrogen fusion,
                        The Main Sequence                 section 17.3-4
                      Evolution Driven by:
                        Loss of energy to space
                        Reduction in number of nuclei by fusion
                      Old Age as a Red Giant              Chapter 17
                      Dependence on Mass                  section 17.1
                      Test: star clusters                 section 16.6
                      Star Assignment 6 due

Monday, April 5     Stellar Evolution (continued)
                      Death of stars                      Chapter 18
                        White Dwarfs                      section 18.1-2,S4.5
                        Supernovae & nucleosynthesis      section 17.4
                        Neutron Stars (pulsars)           sections 18.3
                        Black Holes                       sections 18.4
                      Star Assignment 7 due

1. Describe what is meant by luminosity and brightness
2. Describe how to measure a star's luminosity, brightness, distance, mass and surface temperature.
3. Use stellar spectra to determine the surface temperature and abundances of stars.
4. Explain the relations between pressure, temperature and density in terms of collisions between atoms, ions and electrons.
5. Describe how astronomers concluded that the source of stars' energy was thermonuclear reactions. Explain why nuclear reactions occur only at high temperatures.
6. Explain what keeps a star stable
7. Describe the relation between a star's luminosity and its insulating ability. Describe how the insulating ability depends on the ease with which photons can travel to the surface of the star.
8. Describe how the balances between gravity and pressure, and between energy loss and supply maintain a star's equilibrium structure.
9. Describe how models of stellar structure are tested.
10. Describe how we know what is happening inside the Sun
11. Explain the evolution of a star in terms of loss of energy to space, consumption of nuclear fuel, upsets in the equilibrium balance conditions and gravitational contraction.
12. Describe the sequence of evolutionary stages of a star and how they depend on the mass of the star. Describe the properties of stars in different evolutionary stages: pre-main sequence, main sequence, red giant, white dwarf, supernova, neutron star and black hole.
13. Explain why a white dwarf can not be more massive than 1.4 time the mass of the Sun and neutron stars can not be more massive than 3 times the mass of the Sun.
14. Describe what you would see if you watched someone falling into a black hole.
15. Plot a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, and locate the regions of giant, main sequence and white dwarf stars. Describe the relations between surface temperature, luminosity, mass and size for these types of stars. Describe the evolutionary state of the 16 brightest northern-hemisphere stars.

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