Course Outline:

(1) Overview of galaxies and their structure.
Reading: text sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3.
Aug 25: The Hubble sequence and other non-morphological classification schemes.
ESO page on sky brightness

Aug 27: classifying galaxies
Aug 28 (class at 8:30am) Moving away from morphology

Sept 1: no class!
Sept 3: no class!

Sept 8: Galaxy spectra

Sept 8: Measuring galaxy concentration, galaxy luminosity function

Sept 8: Slides on galaxy luminosity measurement, from Prof Andreas Berlind, Vanderbilt University

Sept 10: no class!

(2) Does environment matter?
Nature vs nurture. Galaxy luminosity function.
Reading: text Ch 7, p278-297
Dynamics of mergers(Mihos javalab)

Sept 17: Galaxy morphology and environment
Sept 18: (makeup class) Causes of galaxy trends with environment.

(3) A late-type spiral in a poor group -- the Milky Way
(a) Techniques of stellar populations:
Reading: text Ch 2.1, pp 58-66
Sept 22: Distance measurement: Absolute and relative distance indicators. Main sequence fitting.
Sept 24: Review variable stars: Prof Mihos 222 notes
Cepheids and Baade-Wesselink method.
Recent work on Cepheids.
Reading: Binney and Merrifield Section 7.2, 7.2.1

Sept 29: in-class test

Oct 1: Stellar luminosity function

Oct 5 and 8: Mass function and initial mass function

(b) Milky Way structure:
(i) disk populations: ISM, thin disk, thick disk, bar.
Mapping the Galaxy with star counts. Disk kinematics. Rotation. Epicycles, disk heating, spiral structure.
Multi-wavelength Milky Way

Oct 8: Stellar populations in the Galaxy
The thin disk.

Oct 13: Thin disk's age, metallicity distribution, star count techniques.

Oct 15: midterm

Oct 16: The Galactic Bar

Prof Mihos movie of disk going bar unstable

Tues Oct 27: Stellar kinematics
Tues Oct 27: Orbits and Epicycles

Spiral structure and density waves

Oct 30: Formation of thick disk 1. (first page blank by accident)
Oct 30: Formation of the thick disk 2.

(ii) The stellar halo
Dynamical friction (Mihos javalab)

Age measurement of globular clusters

Halo kinematics and formation

(4) The Local Group.
Reading: text Ch 4, 4.1
(i) The three spirals: M31, Milky Way, M33. Reading: text Ch 4.2
(ii) Dwarf galaxies in the Local Group. Reading: text Ch 4.4 Reionization, formation, star formation history.

(5) Galaxy formation
Dark Matter. Galaxy formation theories. Reading: Text section 4.3. Longair Ch 11, Mihos 328 notes.
How galaxies get angular momentum

Kravtsov simulations

(6) Spiral Galaxies
Reading: text Ch 2.4, 5.2
LSB disk galaxies. Types of galaxy bulges. The galactic center and its black hole

(7) Elliptical galaxies
Properties and surface photometry.

Presentation on Elliptical galaxies and Sauron by Tim de Zeeuw

Structure of elliptical galaxies: boxy vs disky, fundamental plane.

What SAURON has taught us about bulges and ellipticals.

(8) AGN and their uses.
Active Galactic Nuclei. AGN density as f(redshift). AGN Feedback. Black hole relations to galaxy properties; variations in fundamental quantities with redshift)

(9) Galaxy formation revisited.
Lookback studies of galaxies: Lyman break galaxies. High redshift galaxies: Searches with deep near-IR imaging and sub-mm

Measuring galaxy mass at high redshift