The main topic of the course is stellar structure, a field of astronomy that brings together many different branches of physics (hydrodynamics, atomic, nuclear, and neutrino physics, radiation-matter interactions, etc.) to understand the fundamental objects of astronomical study: stars.

See also here for a breakdown of the main topics covered and here for a tentative list of topics covered by student presentations.

Steward Observatory room 204, Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45pm

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand the physical scales associated with a wide variety of astronomical objects and phenomena.
• Apply a physically motivated theoretical framework to stellar structure to derive stellar properties and compare to observations.
• Use mathematical and computational skills to solve astrophysical problems related to stars and more generally astrophysics.
• Communicating, translating, and interpreting fundamental astronomical concepts and research results.
• Distinguish observationally confirmed elements of stellar physics from numerical results.

These learning outcomes will be met through attendance at lectures, in-class activities, homework and writing assignments, and a final presentation made of a written component and an oral presentation on a selected topic (see here).

This course relies on frontal lectures, homework, and in-class problem solving activities (individual and in group), and student presentations. Some problem solving activities will be of computational nature.

This is also a class with "writing emphasis", which will be included as part of homework and the final presentation.

Most stellar physics text books will contain most of the information covered in this course, although order and presentation vary. You can use any textbook you like or already have. I recommend and will mostly follow these:

• Prof. Onno Pols notes. These lecture notes are freely available, accessible, and thorough, making them an excellent starting point. I strongly suggest downloading a copy for yourself early in the course.
• Kippenhahn, Weigert, & Weiss 2012. This is a classic textbook that you may continue to consult even as a seasoned researcher with emphasis on the physical processes in stars. If you are an enrolled student and have troubles accessing this book, please come talk to me.

We will also use MESA-web, a cloud-computing resource to run stellar evolution simulations with the open-source, community-developed, code MESA.

The course grade will be based on:

• In class participation: 20%
• Homework: 40%
• Project/Presentation (written+oral): 40%

The class will not be curved, and this will be the correspondence between final percentages and letter grades:

• A: 85-100%
• B: 70-85%
• C: 50-70%
• D: 30-50%
• E: 0-30%

To foster a positive learning environment, students and instructors have a shared responsibility. We want a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment where all of us feel comfortable with each other and where we can challenge ourselves to succeed. To that end, our focus is on the tasks at hand and not on extraneous activities (e.g., texting, chatting, web surfing, etc.). Students are asked to refrain from disruptive conversations with people sitting around them during lecture. Students observed engaging in disruptive activity will be asked to cease this behavior. Those who continue to disrupt the class will be asked to leave lecture or discussion and may be reported to the Dean of Students.

The Arizona Board of Regents’ Student Code of Conduct, ABOR Policy 5‐308, prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to one’s self. See: http://policy.web.arizona.edu/threatening%E2%80%90behavior%E2%80%90students

Any social media groups generated using university-sponsored tools (e.g., D2L class lists, slack workspaces) should be treated as an extension of the classroom. This means that they will need to abide by the University’s student code of conduct policies, and be respectful, inclusive environments.

All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion. Absences pre‐approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean's designee) will be honored.

It is important to attend all classes, as what is discussed in class is pertinent to adequate performance on assignments and exams. If you must be absent, it is your responsibility to obtain and review the information you missed.

Integrity is expected of every student in all academic work. The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student’s submitted work must be the student’s own. Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/exercises must be the product of your own effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog. See: https://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/student-rights-responsibilities/academic-integrity

Misappropriation of exams before or after they are given will be considered academic misconduct. Misconduct of any kind will be prosecuted and may result in any or all of the following:

• Reduction of grade
• Failing grade
• Referral to the Dean of Students for consideration of additional penalty, i.e. notation on a student’s transcript re. academic integrity violation, etc. http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/policies%E2%80%90and%E2%80%90codes/code%E2%80%90academic%E2%80%90integrity

UA Academic policies and procedures are available at http://catalog.arizona.edu/policies

http://www.registrar.arizona.edu/ferpa

For a list of emergency procedures for all types of incidents, please visit the website of the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT): https://cirt.arizona.edu/case-emergency/overview

Also watch the video available at https://arizona.sabacloud.com/Saba/Web_spf/NA7P1PRD161/common/learningeventdetail/crtfy000000000003560

The information contained in this syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.