Department of
Physics and Astronomy
Franklin & Marshall College
Spring 2014
The main textbook for the course is An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (2nd edition) by Carroll and Ostlie. This book is also useful for other astronomy courses you might take since it covers a wide range of topics in astrophysics. We will also make use of several physics textbooks as supplemental resources, including introductory physics texts such as the one you used in Physics 111 and 112 and the excellent mechanics textbook Classical Mechanics by John R. Taylor. Please be sure to keep these textbooks handy.
The course is divided into modules. The discussion of each module includes a review of the physical principles and concepts needed to understand and connect phenomena observed in the solar system. Each module has a separate assignment associated with it. During the last part of the course, we will have student presentations on independent topics. Each presentation will be roughly 30-40 mins. The goal of the independent project is for you to go in depth into a facet of solar system astrophysics that we have not covered in the course and present it to the class. More details can be found in the general course information and policies document.
Assignments:
Exam Information: