Physics 161, Spring 2009
Extragalactic Astrophysics and Cosmology
This class is a basic introduction to cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics. It is intended to be accessible to physics majors who have completed sophmore physics, whether or not they have prior background in cosmology or astronomy.
The title of this course gives an impossible scope for a short class,
so this quarter we will focus on the basics of modern cosmology: the
history and contents of the Universe, on relatively large scales. We
will also cover the basics of galaxy formation. Hopefully by the end
you will have a good appreciation for the current status of the
current cosmological paradigm, including its theoretical
underpinnings, its important predictions, how it can be tested with
observations, and some of the current controversies and puzzles.
list of assigned readings
additional resources