Welcome to the canvas information page for the course

ASTM28: Dynamical Astronomy, 7.5 credits

given by the Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics.

Note: this page contains general information about the course. If you are a student on the course you have to log in to the canvas portal to the left. The course calendar and course stream on this page are not active.

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Contents

The course contains ...

Newtonian gravitation and dynamics.
Reference systems and units.
Galactic coordinates.
Astrometry and the determination of the distances, motions and distribution of stars.
The HR diagram and the colours, luminosities and ages of stars.
Stellar kinematics.
Circular motions.
The motion of the sun and the local velocity standard.
The rotation curve, differential Galactic rotation and Oort's constants.
Force, potential, and Poisson’s equation.
Non-circular motions.
The potential of the Galaxy and Galactic orbits.
Statistical description of distributions and motions.
The phase space, collisionless Boltzmann equation and Jeans' equations.
Applications of the Jeans equations to dynamical determination of masses and
mass density.

General information

Semester: autumn
Study period: 2
Level: master
Language: English
Form of teaching: The teaching consists of lectures, python sessions and laboratory exercises (done using the programming language 'Python').
Assessment: In order to pass the course, you have to pass the take-home exam (details to be announced later) and hand in acceptable reports for P1, P2 and either P3 or P4. This is how the grading is done:
- Each of the problems (P1-P4) as well as the exam (E) is graded on a scale from 0 to 100%. The mean grade is calculated as

$LaTeX: M=\frac{1}{4}\left(P1+P2+Pn+E\right)$

where Pn = P3 or P4

- You have failed if any of P1, P2, P3 or P4, or E is < 50 (but see below how you can still pass). Otherwise, you get a "Pass" (Godkänd) if M < 75 or a "Pass with Distinction" (Väl godkänd) if M is at least 75.
- As long as you have failed, you are entitled to hand in improved versions of the failed reports, or re-do a failed home exam once.
- If you are close to receiving a "Pass with Distinction", you may also be allowed to improve the reports.
Grading scale: U-G-VG
Course plan: in English, in Swedish

Course literature and resources

Teachers

Alexander Mustill (course responsible), phone: 046-22 21612
Alexander Mustill (AM), alex@astro.lu.se
David Hobbs (DH), david@astro.lu.se
Eero Vaher (EV), eero.vaher@astro.lu.se – for Python issues

Schedule

The schedule for the next instance of the course can be found here.

Application

Through antagning.se

Interested students who are not yet registered should contact the course responsible at alex@astro.lu.se.

Dynamical Astronomy - HT21