UFAF005 Fundamental astronomy and astrophysics

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2021
Extent and Intensity
3/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
RNDr. Tomáš Gráf, Ph.D. (lecturer)
RNDr. Tomáš Gráf, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Ondřej Nicolas Karpíšek (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
RNDr. Tomáš Gráf, Ph.D.
Centrum interdisciplinárních studií – Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Timetable
Tue 11:25–13:00 404, Wed 13:55–14:40 404
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
UFAF005/A: Wed 15:35–17:10 404, O. Karpíšek
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce a basic set of knowledge, principles and fundamentals of astronomy and astrophysics at the level of more or less high-school math and physics some lectures (History of astronomy and part of Solar system) are introduce only at popular level. Together with the courses of fundamental physics, it provides a sufficient background to study more advanced courses in astronomy and astrophysics.
Syllabus
  • 1) History of Astronomy:
    Aristarchus, Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Hubble, Einstein.
    2) Spherical astronomy:
    coordinate systems, precession and nutation Earth's axis, aberration, parallax, refraction, constellations, star maps and catalogs, time, calendar.
    3) Celestial Mechanics:
    Newton's law of gravity, escape velocity, Kepler's laws, orbital elements, Kepler's equation, the relative positions of the planets synodic and sidereal orbital period.
    4) The Solar System:
    formation, planets and their moons, small bodies, moon, eclipses and occultations, tidal, libration, apparent and actual motion of the planets.
    5) Radiation in Astrophysics:
    characteristic radiation of blackbody radiation, temperature, radiation of atoms and molecules, Boltzmann and Saha equation, continuous and line spectrum.
    6) The variable stars:
    magnitude, Pogsonova equation, color index and excesses, interstellar and atmospheric extinction, spectral classification, H - R diagram.
    7) Double stars:
    classification binaries, basic properties, mass function.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Štefl V., Korčáková D., Krtička J. Úlohy z astrofyziky. Skriptum MU Brno, 2010. info
  • Karttunen H., Kröger P., Oja H., Poutanen M., Donner K. J. Fundamental Astronomy. Springer, 2007. info
  • Šolc M., Švestka J., Vanýsek V. Fyzika hvězd a vesmíru. SPN, Praha, 1991. info
  • Vanýsek V. Základy astronomie a astrofyziky. Academia, Praha, 1980. info
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
* written test (exercises) - success rate 75%
* written part of exam - success rate 50%
* oral part of exam
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2016, Winter 2017, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020, Winter 2022, Winter 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/winter2021/UFAF005