Courses
For a full description of courses see the registrar's course catalog.
- AST 805: Research Project
- Research project to be completed under the guidance of an astronomy faculty member. Two semesters are required. A oral presentation and defense of the research serves as the comprehensive exam for the graduate astrophysics program.
- AST 810: Radiation Astrophysics
- Transfer of radiation through plasmas and processes for emission and absorption of photons. Interpretation of the spectra of stars, the interstellar medium, and galaxies.
- AST 825: Galactic Astronomy
- The Milky Way as a galaxy. Observations and techniques of theoretical analysis that are used to discover the features of our galaxy.
- AST 835: Extragalactic Astronomy
- Galaxies beyond the Milky Way. Large-scale structure of the universe. Cosmology.
- AST 840: Stars
- Physics of stellar interiors. Methods for calculating stellar models. Principles of stellar evolution.
- AST 860: Gravitational Astrophysics
- Experimental foundations, theory, and applications of gravitational physics and general relativity. Tests of the equivalence principle, modern solar system tests of general relativity, Schwarzschild metric, Hawking effect, Einstein's field equations.
In addition to these courses, astronomy graduate students take a selection of physics courses and have the option to take courses in computational science.