An intensive study of an advanced astronomy topic.
Topics vary from year to year.
An intensive study of visual, spectroscopic, and eclipsing binaries, including a review of observational techniques. Methods of orbital analysis with applications emphasizing determination of fundamental stellar properties, such as mass, radius, temperature, and luminosity. Implications for stellar evolution. A survey of basic observational data for determining the structure of the Milky Way galaxy. Luminosity functions, stellar distributions in and near the galactic plane, solar motion, kinematics, and dynamics of stellar motions and galactic rotation.