| Title: | Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology |
| Other Titles: | An Introduction |
| Authors: | Schneider, Peter |
| Keywords: | Cosmology Astronomy |
| Issue Date: | 2015 |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Abstract: | On the instrument side, the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope brought two new very powerful instruments to this unique observatory, the Herschel and Planck satellites were launched and conducted their very successful missions, the South Pole Telescope and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope started operation, ALMA was inaugurated and began observations, and new powerful high-resolution instruments were installed on 10-m class telescopes. Scientifically, the redshift frontier has been extended, with candidate galaxies at redshifts of ten or higher and stellar explosions seen at redshifts beyond eight, a much improved understanding of the high-redshift galaxy population has been obtained, as a consequence of which also the origin of the cosmic infrared background is now understood, and greatly improved multi-wavelength surveys carried out with the most powerful telescopes, together with new simulation techniques, have provided us with a much better understanding of the evolution of the galaxy population. The Pierre Auger observatory has shed much light on the origin of the most energetic cosmic rays, and the advances of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes have identified dozens of active galaxies emitting at energies of teraelectron Volts. |
| Description: | This book began as a series of lecture notes for an introductory astronomy course I have been teaching at the University of Bonn since 2001. This annual lecture course is aimed at students in the first phase of their studies. Most are enrolled in physics degrees and choose astronomy as one of their subjects. This series of lectures forms the second part of the introductory course, and since the majority of students have previously attended the first part, I therefore assume that they have acquired a basic knowledge of astronomical nomenclature and conventions, as well as on the basic properties of stars. Thus, in this part of the course, I concentrate mainly on extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, beginning with a discussion of our Milky Way as a typical (spiral) galaxy. To extend the potential readership of this book to a larger audience, the basics of astronomy and relevant facts about radiation fields and stars are summarized in the appendix. The goal of the lecture course, and thus also of this book, is to confront physics students with astronomy early in their studies. Since their knowledge of physics is limited in their first year, many aspects of the material covered here need to be explained with simplified arguments. However, it is surprising to what extent modern extragalactic astronomy can be treated with such arguments. All the material in this book is covered in the lecture course, though not all details written up here. I believe that only by covering this wide range of topics can the students be guided to the forefront of our present astrophysical knowledge. Hence, they learn a lot about issues which are currently unsettled and under intense discussion. It is also this aspect which I consider of great importance for the role of astronomy in the framework of a physics program, since in most other subdisciplines of physics the limits of our current knowledge are approached only at a later stage in the education. In particular, the topic of cosmology is usually met with interest by the students. Despite the large amount of material, most of them are able to digest and understand what they are taught, as evidenced from the oral examinations following this course—and this is not small-number statistics: my colleague Klaas de Boer and I together grade about 100 oral examinations per year, covering both parts of the introductory course. Some critical comments coming from students concern the extent of the material as well as its level. However, I do not see a rational reason why the level of an astronomy lecture should be lower than that of one in physics or mathematics. |
| URI: | http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/192 |
| ISBN: | 978-3-642-54083-7 |
| Appears in Collections: | ARTS & SCIENCE |
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015_Book_ExtragalacticAstronomyAndCosmo.pdf | 47.52 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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