Astronomy C

[Jim_R]

Astronomy C

Astronomy Wiki
2009 Thread (Variable Stars)
2010 Thread (Galaxies)
2011 Thread (Active Galactic Nuclei)
2012 Thread (Stellar Evolution/Type Ia Supernovae)
2013 Thread (Stellar Evolution/Type II Supernovae)
2014 Question Marathon
Astronomy Test Exchange 2014

Spectra and Light Curves
Advanced Study Tips

[BYHscioly]

Does anyone know what the topic for this year's Astronomy is? I think it's Stellar Evolution & Variable Stars, but I'm not sure (they also might change it before the official rules come out).

[syo_astro]

Does anyone know what the topic for this year's Astronomy is? I think it's Stellar Evolution & Variable Stars, but I'm not sure (they also might change it before the official rules come out).

Is it alright to talk about the rules now? Also, last year on astro :'(. But ahhh, excitement.

[rfscoach]

Does anyone know what the topic for this year's Astronomy is? I think it's Stellar Evolution & Variable Stars, but I'm not sure (they also might change it before the official rules come out).

Official rules have been available since Sept 3. Yes, Stellar evolution and variable stars.

[imafish]

Hi,
I'm new to astronomy and I was wondering if there's any good practice problem resources. I've found a lot of sample tests and there's loads of questions on the question marathons but very few of them show work...I am having lots of trouble trying to figure out how they arrived at a lot of these answers.
Thank you!

[foreverphysics]

Most of the time, if you post the problem and explain how you did your work, someone will magically crop up and help you out here. There are lots of astronomy notes online for you to look at; understanding those will help you understand how they arrived at the answers.

[astro124]

Most of the time, if you post the problem and explain how you did your work, someone will magically crop up and help you out here. There are lots of astronomy notes online for you to look at; understanding those will help you understand how they arrived at the answers.

I agree. This thread (and those who helped me such as Alpha Tauri and many others) are part of the reason that I did so well in Astronomy last year.

Speaking of help, does anyone have any good online astro math + physics sources (I still have my binder from last year with all the equations, but I'm still trying to find a good universal source for this type of stuff).

[foreverphysics]

hyperphysics was always one of the main sites I used to study with. Another one was this thing called "Atlas of the Universe". As far as all-around resources go, get yourself a copy of Carroll and Ostlie. I cannot recommend this strongly enough, and I'm sure many other astro geeks here will back me up (summoning: AlphaTauri, syo_astro, EASTStroudsburg13, manutd, etc. etc.). That book will go through all the math and almost all of the general knowledge you need. What you can't find in there, you can usually find within five to ten minutes of good Googling.

[syo_astro]

Well, I will give their Into to Astro is really comprehensive. But the issue is...depending on how hardcore you're studying, I've actually found cases where it won't have EVERYTHING. I know, hard to believe. But some stuff you can literally find by googling "[object] math/formulas/equations". Pulsars? Pulsar formulas. Black holes? Black hole formulas. I've found there is no site that covers all the formulas you want, but if you read/google enough you should have enough sources that have everything.

Results from googling "astronomy formulas" (this shouldn't cover everything, so go looking, seriously):
http://scioly.org/wiki/images/c/c6/Formula_Sheet.pdf (the classic go to scioly wiki and find some slight mistakes that work well enough)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/43682138/Astr ... -Equations
http://physics.uoregon.edu/~soper/formulas.pdf
http://astrophysicsformulas.com/astroph ... e-s001.pdf
http://astronomyonline.org/Science/Form ... te2=MP0402

[AlphaTauri]

Carroll and Ostlie is indeed very nice, but for most people's needs, it's a bit excessive - especially for math, because you'll encounter crazy integrals and large, mysteriously-derived equations everywhere. Most likely, you'll be able to find the same information on the internet, though it will be scattered and piecemeal, and for much less than it costs you to buy a copy of C/O. That being said, if you want to go all out for astro and/or have a passion for the subject outside of SciO, C/O is definitely worth your time (and money).

I'd definitely also check out other undergrad astro textbooks if you're thinking of using C/O; I've never used a different textbook, but I'm sure they're just as good.

Edit: And yeah, syo's right. We might think of C/O as the Holy Grail of astro textbooks, but it's still really just an introduction to astrophysics. Notably considering this year's topic, it's pretty lacking in the varstar department - it'll tell you in great detail about the mechanisms of stellar pulsation, but there's not much about the different types of varstars. (But for that, there is the internet!)