ASTR 1010

Solar System Astronomy

The first part of our undergraduate course on astronomy, and an first introduction to astronomy through the study of the solar system environment. This class is also a journey where we discover the early history of astronomy, the place of our Earth in the Universe, as well as our closest neighbors (the solar system planets, satellites and minor bodies). As we explore the origin, the evolution and the current state of the solar system, we also discuss the modern observational techniques that astronomers use to uncover the secrets of the Universe.

Content on iCollege

ASTR 1020

Stellar and Galactic Astronomy

The second part of our undergraduate course on astronomy. It covers the physical properties of stars, their formation and evolution, as well as our galaxy and others, and the origin and evolution of the Universe.

Content on iCollege

ASTR 1500

Life in the Universe

This course examines the possibility of life in the universe beyond Earth. Realistically, though, we can really only discuss the possibility of finding life elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. We will cover the techniques used to explore environments potentially suitable for life in our Solar System, as well as to discover and characterize thousands of planets orbiting other stars will be discussed. Connections to organisms surviving extreme environments on Earth will provide context for the many possibilities of life on other worlds. Finally we will explore one of the oldest of science and science-fiction mysteries: the Fermi Paradox.

Content on iCollege

ASTR 8800

Optics in Astronomy

Class taught in collaboration with Prof. Stuart Jefferies. Covers Fourier Optics (Zernike Modes, diffraction limited imaging, atmosphere and turbulence, lucky imaging, speckle imaging), Adaptive Optics (wavefront sensing and references, Shack-Hartmann, phase curvature/diversity, extreme AO, MCAO and tomography), Image restoration (blind deconvolution, diversity methods), Radio and Optical Interferometry (aperture synthesis, visibilities, fringe tracking, interferometric imaging).

Class material on GitHub

ASTR 8150

Numerical Methods for Physics and Astronomy

A graduate-level class focused on solving physics and astronomical problems using modern numerical methods, with a practical "hands-on" approach to code-writing. A wide range of subjects is covered, including error analysis, modeling and fitting data, time series analysis, image processing, inverse methods, and machine learning.

Class material on GitHub