| source Northwestern (X) |
level |
department ASTRON Astronomy (X) |
The possibilities of extraterrestrial life and intelligence have long fascinated the public imagination. Recently, discoveries of a variety of extrasolar planets within a few hundred lightyears and the Martian Rover evidence of a watery past on Mars have heated the debate on whether we are alone in the universe. In this seminar, we will discuss the scientific foundations of this debate as well as the technology and strategies behind current and planned searches for extraterrestrial life and intelligence.
Score: 13.640634 Details | Listing | Web page
An introduction to modern observations and ideas about the solar system, stars, galaxies, and the universe. Topics to be discussed include comets, extrasolar planets, supernovae, pulsars, black holes, quasars, dark matter, Big Bang cosmology, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
Score: 13.640634 Details | Listing | Web page
The basic formalism of the Big Bang cosmology model will be covered along with the thermal history of the Universe, the primordial nucleosynthesis model, and the origin of the microwave background. A discussion will be given on the nature dark matter and its relation to large scale structure formation, galaxy formation, the evolution of spiral and elliptical galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies. The particle physics basis for inflation will also be briefly discussed.
Score: 13.640634 Details | Listing | Web page
The basic formalism of the Big Bang cosmology model will be covered along with the thermal history of the Universe, the primordial nucleosynthesis model, and the origin of the microwave background. A discussion will be given on the nature dark matter and its relation to large scale structure formation, galaxy formation, the evolution of spiral and elliptical galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies. The particle physics basis for inflation will also be briefly discussed.
Score: 13.640634 Details | Listing | Web page
The modern Big Bang perspective on the origin, structure, evolution, and fate of the universe. Topics to be discussed include the extragalactic distance scale, the Hubble expansion, the large-scale clustering of galaxies, cosmic inflation and the early universe,Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the cosmic microwave background radiation, dark matter, dark energy, and the recent evidence for acceleration in the expansion of the universe. This WCAS Area I distribution course is designed for non-science majors, particularly those who wish to follow Astro 120 with a more detailed course (but Astro 120 is not a prerequisite).
Score: 13.640634 Details | Listing | Web page
There are two books to read for this class. Each class will have a student discussion leader or two on each reading assignment. The discussion topics can be science issues, history related (the black hole book), or how you found the writing (e.g. exceptionally good or bad, and give examples and talk about why). At the end of the quarter, the discussion time will be replaced by 10 minute presentations by each student.
Score: 13.640634 Details | Listing | Web page