Also discussed are associated phenomena such as stellar pulsations and the dynamical instabilities of luminous, massive stars. The structure and evolution of degenerate stars is considered, as is the nature of supernova explosions and their interaction with the interstellar medium. Astrophysics 302 is offered in the Winter Quarter. The third course in the core sequence concerns the interstellar medium and the structure and evolution of the Galaxy. The observational manifestations of the different phases of the ISM are surveyed and the physical processes that govern their behavior are outlined within the framework of plasma astrophysics.
Attention then shifts to the properties of galaxies as collisionless stellar systems.
The distribution of stars in the solar neighborhood, the kinematics and dynamics of stars in the Galaxy, and the large scale structure of the Galaxy are discussed from both observational and theoretical perspectives. Astrophysics 303 is offered in the Spring Quarter. The fourth course in the core sequence is concerned with extragalactic astrophysics. The standard big-bang cosmology is introduced, and used as a framework to understand primordial nucleosynthesis, the decoupling of the background radiation, and the development of structure. Astrophysics 304 is offered in the Spring Quarter.