Introduction to Stellar Astrophysics
(Dr Ph. Podsiadlowski)
Homepage
- Lecture 1: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
Introduction, observable properties of stars, magnitudes, stellar classification
- Lecture 2: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
Stellar properties, H-R (CM) diagrams, star clusters, stellar populations, brown dwarfs, planets
- Lectures 3/4: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
Equations of stellar structure: hydrostatic equilibrium, virial theorem, stellar timescales, energy transport by radiation and convection
- Lecture 5: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
The mathematical problem, equations of state, opacities
- Lecture 6: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
Nuclear reactions: nuclear binding energy, the Coulomb barrier, non-resonant reaction rates, hydrogen burning (pp chains, CNO tri-cycle), helium burning
- Lecture 7: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
The Sun: helioseismology, the solar neutrino problem
- Lecture 8: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
The structure of main-sequence stars, age determinations of clusters, star formation, the Jeans mass, the angular-momentum problem, pre-main-sequence evolution, the stellar birthline
- Lecture 9: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
The evolution of low-mass stars: the red-giant phase, the helium flash, the asymptotic-giant branch and planetary nebula ejection, white dwarfs, the Chandrasekhar mass
- Lecture 10: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
The evolution of massive stars, supernova types: core-collapse, thermonuclear explosions, supernova classification and light curves, Type Ia supernovae and cosmology, SN 1987A
- Lecture 11: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
Binaries: binary classification, the mass function, the Roche potential, mass transfer in binaries, the Algol paradox, binaries with compact objects
- Lecture 12: (pdf files: B/W, colour)
Neutron stars and pulsars, the Crab pulsar, millisecond pulsars and the black-widow pulsar, black holes, gamma-ray bursts
