Listed in: Physics and Astronomy, as ASTR-220
Daryl Haggard (Section 01)
Black holes, agglomerations of mass so dense that even light cannot escape their gravitational pull, are among the simplest and yet most exotic objects in astrophysics. Some black holes are the fossils of supernovae, exploding stars that leave behind a remnant with a mass tens or hundreds of times the mass of our sun. Other "supermassive" black holes lurk at the hearts of galaxies, including our Milky Way. These monsters (sometimes a billion times the mass of our sun) have a profound impact on the formation and structure of their host galaxies, despite being packed into structures smaller than the solar system. In this course, we will explore the astrophysical evidence for black holes, the basic theory required to begin to understand them, and the many active research questions surrounding their origins and their impacts on our physical universe.
Requisite: MATH 111 and PHYS 123 or 116, concurrent enrollment acceptable. Spring semester. Professor Haggard.
Section 01
Tu 01:00 PM - 02:20 PM MERR 315
Th 01:00 PM - 02:20 PM MERR 315