Astrophysics lab

Enrollment into the program. It is recommended that the student is familiar with the material which is part of the courses Astronomy I and Observational astrophysics within the Bologna I studies of Physics.
Completed written assignements are a prerequisite for the oral defense.

The course is introduced by overview lectures to introduce the individual laboratory exercises and clarify the physics background of individual observational and computational projects which form the core of the course.

Themes of exercises will be adapted with regard to availability of experimental equipment. Basic set of tasks which can be done with observational equipment at the Astronomical observatory AGO and with the local computer cluster of the astronomy group:
• absorption and scattering in the Earth atmosphere,
• interstellar absorption,
• measurement of stellar radial velocity,
• physical description of spectra of normal stars,
• rapidly rotating stars,
• spectroscopy of binary stars,
• spectroscopy of emission nebulae,
• orbits of space probes,
• geostationary satellites,
• special cases of satellite orbits,
• H-R diagram with a reduced proper motion,
• colour-magnitude and colour-colour diagrams of star clusters,
• galactic dynamics,
• redshift.

• H. Bradt: Astronomy Methods, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004,
• P. Lena, et al.: Observational Astrophysics, Springer-Verlag, 3rd edition, 2012,
• D. F. Gray: The Observation and Analysis of stellar atmospheres, Cambridge Univ. Press, 3rd edition, 2008
• Sverre J. Aarseth: Gravitational N-Body Simulations, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Objectives:

Student gets practical experience with astronomical observations, also with automated ones. He/she also gets familiar with numerical modelling.

Competences:

Interpretation of astronomical observations obtained by the student and the ones downloaded from the virtual observatory (VO), using numerical simulations of astrophysical phenomena.

Knowledge and understanding:
Understanding of individual observational methods and their recent development. Critical understanding of reliability of results, problem of uniqueness of solutions. Knowledge of standard procedures to reduce (mostly) spectroscopic data.

Application:
Acquired knowledge allows to obtain personal experience with astronomical observations and related numerical simulations.

Reflection:
Critical evaluation of experimental results with theoretical models. Confrontation of astrophysical knowledge with personal experience.

Transferable skills:
The ability to conduct research end-to-end and to present a critical assessment of the results which were obtained.

Lectures, individual assignements, consultations

Written reports on observational and computational assignements
Oral exam
grading: 5 (fail), 6-10 (pass) (according to the Statute of UL)

Maruša Bradač

• BRADAČ, Maruša. The high-redshift universe with Spitzer. Nature astronomy, ISSN 2397-3366, May 2020, vol. 4, str. 478-485. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1104-5, doi: 10.1038/s41550-020-1104-5. [COBISS-SI-ID 51102723],
• HOAG, Austin Thomas, BRADAČ, Maruša, et al. Spectroscopic con!rmation of an ultra-faint galaxy at the epoch of reionization. Nature astronomy, ISSN 2397-3366, April 2017, vol. 1, a91, str. 1-6. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-017-0091, doi: 10.1038/s41550-017-0091. [COBISS-SI-ID 51125507],

• KELLY, Patrick L., BRADAČ, Maruša, et al. Multiple images of a highly magni!ed supernova formed by an early-type cluster galaxy lens. Science, ISSN 1095-9203, 6. march 2015, vol. 347,no. 6226, str. 1123-1126. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/347/6226/1123.full.pdf, doi: 10.1126/science.aaa3350. [COBISS-SI-ID 52560643],

• BRADAČ, Maruša, et al. Spectroscopic con!rmation of a z = 6.740 galaxy behind the Bullet Cluster. The Astrophysical journal. Letters, ISSN 2041-8213. [Spletna izd.], August 2012, vol. 755, issue 1, l7, str. 1-6. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/755/1/L7/pdf, doi: 10.1088/2041 8205/755/1/L7. [COBISS-SI-ID 52656899]

• CLOWE, Douglas, BRADAČ, Maruša, GONZALEZ, Anthony H., MARKEVITCH, Maxim, RANDALL, Scott W., JONES, Christine, ZARITSKY, Dennis. A direct empirical proof of the existence of dark  matter. The Astrophysical journal, supplement series, ISSN 0067-0049, Sep. 2006, 648, no. 2, str. L109-L113, ilustr. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/508162. [COBISS-SI-ID 15974152]