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 11:00 am-12:15 pm.
Prof. Mathieu Renzo
- Office: N506
- Email: mrenzo@arizona.edu
- Office hours: by appointment to be scheduled by email
N.B.: Office hours are times set aside to help you! Please come and ask any questions you have. My availability is different every week, so please reach out to schedule an appointment. Email is the best way to get in touch with me, but given my schedule, I may not respond for a full business day. Please plan ahead.
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 literature review project made of written and oral presentation on a selected topic. See Projects for more information, including a list of possible topics.
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%
- Literature review 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%
Your engagement, quality of contributions, and interactions with the instructors and with your peers will contribute to your final grade. Quality and frequency of your contributions will be evaluated throughout the course, rewarding specifically growth and improvement.
N.B.: I will not log attendance, being there is not a sufficient condition to guarantee a good participation grade.
The rubric used to evaluate the in class participation is given below. I will keep track of relevant and/or insightful questions/comments in class and/or at office hours.
| Rubric for in class participation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exceptional | Very good | Adequate | Poor | |
| Engagement | Consistent proactive | Frequent active participation | Occasional participation during | Rare or absent participation, |
| participation during lectures and | during lectures and other in class | lectures and in class activities | or frequent but disruptive | |
| other in class activities with valuable | activities with valuable | with relevant contribution | interruptions with rarely relevant | |
| insights and/or pertinent questions | insight and question | and often beside-the-point | ||
| interventions | ||||
| Preparation | Consistent demonstration | Consistent demonstration of | Typically good understanding | Lack of understanding of the |
| of thorough and in depth | thorough understanding of | of material covered in | materials already covered in | |
| understanding of course content | course content already covered | the course with only | class and past homework. | |
| covered and knowledge of | occasional misunderstandings of | Severe misconceptions unaddressed. | ||
| topical content beyond the course | previously covered content | |||
| Collaboration | Consistent level of engagement | Consistent level of engagement | Typically proactive participation | Disengaged from group activities, |
| with peers, exhibiting “leadership” | with peers, with positive | in group activities with positive | lets others do all the work. | |
| and “peer mentoring” qualities, | contributions to group activities | contribution | Does not let others contribute | |
| enabling and helping the participation | and occasionally helping others | and learn together, participation | ||
| and development of others and themselves | is a net negative in content and | |||
| climate within the group | ||||
| Growth | Shows significant improvement | Demonstrates noticeable improvement | Demonstrates some improvement | Demonstrates marginal or no improvement |
| in engagement, preparation, and | in engagement, preparation, and | in engagement, preparation, and | in engagement, preparation, and | |
| collaboration over the semester | collaboration over the semester | collaboration over the semester | collaboration over the semester |
Roughly between one-third and halfway through the course, depending on how lectures proceed, you will receive feedback on your participation in class.
There will be regular homework assignments, including order-of-magnitude, quantitative, computational and/or more qualitative exercises, depending on the week and topic. Please feel free to use resources outside of the textbook. You can also collaborate with your peers, but please each time you do, indicate with whom. You must show your individual work to receive full credit.
Assignments should be uploaded in pdf form via D2L. Deadlines will be designed to use the homework materials in class. Late submissions will not be accepted unless explicitly agreed upon beforehand, if you expect not to make it on time, ask for an extension at least one day before the deadline. It’s better to submit something incomplete than nothing. In your pdf files, you should show the calculations done and contextualise them as appropriate.
Timely feedback will be provided for you to assess your understanding and progress.
You will be assigned a topic relevant to the course to explain to your peers. You will search the literature and prepare a written text plus an oral presentation. The written text will be evaluated both by the instructor and two randomly selected peers, the oral presentation will be evaluated by all the student present plus the instructors. For more information on the literature review project/presentation and how it will be graded, see here.
Requests for incomplete (I) or withdrawal (W) must be made in accordance with University policies, which are available at https://registrar.arizona.edu/faculty-staff-resources/grading/grading-policies/incomplete and https://registrar.arizona.edu/faculty-staff-resources/grading/grading-policies/withdrawals, respectively.
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‐behavior‐students
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.
The University of Arizona is committed to creating and maintaining an environment free of discrimination. In support of this commitment, the University prohibits discrimination, including harassment and retaliation, based on a protected classification, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information. For more information, including how to report a concern, please see http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/nondiscrimination-and-anti-harassment-policy
At the University of Arizona, we strive to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please contact the Disability Resource Center (520-621-3268, https://drc.arizona.edu/) to establish reasonable accommodations.
To facilitate everyone’s participation, audio and/or video recording of in class activities is not allowed unless explicitly agreed upon by all present students and instructors. In no case sharing on public platforms of the recordings will be allowed.
This course affirms people of all gender expressions and gender identities. If you prefer to be called a different name than what is on the class roster, please let me know. Feel free to correct instructors on your preferred gender pronoun.
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‐and‐codes/code‐academic‐integrity
UA Academic policies and procedures are available at http://catalog.arizona.edu/policies
http://www.health.arizona.edu/
Campus Health provides quality medical and mental health care services through virtual and in-person care.
- Phone: 520-621-9202
https://health.arizona.edu/counseling-psych-services
CAPS provides mental health care, including short-term counseling services.
- Phone: 520-621-3334
http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/student-assistance/students/student-assistance
Student Assistance helps students manage crises, life traumas, and other barriers that impede success. The staff addresses the needs of students who experience issues related to social adjustment, academic challenges, psychological health, physical health, victimization, and relationship issues, through a variety of interventions, referrals, and follow up services.
- Email: DOS-deanofstudents@email.arizona.edu
- Phone: 520-621-7057
https://survivoradvocacy.arizona.edu/
The Survivor Advocacy Program provides confidential support and advocacy services to student survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. The Program can also advise students about relevant non-UA resources available within the local community for support.
- Email: survivoradvocacy@email.arizona.edu
- Phone: 520-621-5767
Students who ask for help are more successful. If you have questions, concerns or challenges and are unsure about where to go for answers or support you can ask SOS. The SOS staff will answer questions, find you resources or connect you with the correct people. Whether you’re brand-new to campus or have been around for a while, just reach out to SOS for support.
- Chat: sos.arizona.edu
- Email: sos@arizona.edu
- Text: SOS to 70542
- Call: 520-621-2327
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.