Introduction to Python Programming with Applications to Astrophysics

Other Courses to Consider

These courses might also be of interest.

• 
  Exoplanets

  The past two decades have witnessed the discovery of planets in orbit around other stars and the characterization of extra-Solar (exo-) planetary systems. We are now able to place our Solar System into the context of other worlds and a surprising conclusion that most planetary systems look nothing like our own.

  A challenging next step is to find planets as small as the Earth in orbit around stars like the Sun. The architecture of planetary systems reflects the formation of the parent star and its protoplanetary disk, and how these have changed with time.

  This course will review the techniques for discovery of planets around other stars, what we have learned so far about exoplanetary systems, and the driving questions for the future, including the quest for habitable environments elsewhere.

  This course includes labs. Although quantitative analysis will be an important part of the course, students will not be expected to employ mathematics beyond algebra.

  Remote
• 
  Stars

  At the beginning of the 20th century, two astronomers: Ejnar Hertzprung and Henry Norris Russell independently took catalogues of stars and plotted their brightness as a function of their color. The result, now known as the HR diagram, was to become one of the most influential diagrams in astrophysics. It showed that, contrary to one's naive expectation, the distribution of stars was highly structured. The efforts to understand the HR diagram extended for the better part of the 20th century and paralleled the development of modern physics. In this course we will use the HR diagram as a starting point to address two fundamental questions: what is a star? And how does it evolve? This will be a scientific journey in which we will describe the physical processes determine the inner workings of stars. How they manage to be so hot, so bright and so remarkably long lived1. We will explain how stars drive the chemical evolution of the universe by assembling heavier elements out of lighter ones. Why some stars at the end of their lives become white dwarfs and slowly fade away (die with a whimper) while others end their lives in spectacular explosions know as supernovae that are so bright that can be seen clear across the universe (die with a bang). The sun is as bright as 100 million, million, million, million 40 Watts light bulbs. It burns 400 million metric tons of hydrogen per second. Yet, it has been doing that for 4.5 billion years and will continue to do so for another 4.5 billion years. Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?

  Remote
• 
  On Time and Space

  This studio course focuses on the fundamentals of pre-production, production, and post-production techniques using digital video.

  "On Time and Space" is primarily concerned with how patterns of techniques and formal logics interact and shape our experience of space and time. We will engage in creative and technical studies, individual projects, readings and screenings that focus on the organization and technical realization of content as well as its interpretation. Videography, lighting, sound design, and editing are taught through concepts and methodologies drawn from fine art, documentary, and narrative film and video making considered across different viewing platforms.

  The goal is for students to understand how the experience of space and time can be shaped in the film medium. Students will leave the course with a grasp of the conventional and self-invented techniques filmmakers use.

  Remote