ASTRONOMY 170a: INTRODUCTION TO COSMOLOGY

FALL 2007

CLASS TIMES : Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00 - 5:15 pm, MASON 211

INSTRUCTOR : Prof. Priyamvada Natarajan

Office Room 272, Gibbs Lab., 260 Whitney Ave.

Office Hours TBD

Email priya@astro.yale.edu

Phone 436-4833

TEACHING ASSISTANT : Tomer Tal

Office Room 211 Gibbs Lab.

Office Hours TBD

Email tomer.tal@yale.edu

Phone 432-3031

TEXTS

'Introduction to Cosmology' by Barbara Ryden, 'The Big Bang Bang' by Joseph Silk and a special issue of the Scientific American titled 'The Once and Future Cosmos' all available at the Yale Bookstore.

WEB RESOURCES

Class web page with pointers to resources on the web is available on the classes server at http://classes.yale.edu/astro170a/

COURSE OUTLINE

The primary aim of this course is to provide a broad introduction to cosmology and extra-galactic astrophysics. Topics will include the cosmological models and probes of the models: galaxies, quasars, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.

WORKLOAD

Grading will be based on 6 problem sets (40% of the grade); a mid-term exam (25% of the grade) and 2 in-class tests (20% of the grade) and one final project (15% of the grade) due during the last week of class.