The Glasgow University Astronomy Society is focused on making Astronomy and Astrophysics accessible to everyone. From our beer and donuts night (complete with quiz), to our guest lectures and observation nights, we are here to bring all the astronomy not covered in normal time to the university.
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Hello and welcome!
Astronomy at the University of Glasgow
At the University of Glasgow the Astronomy course is one which can be taken as a joint honours course with either Physics or Mathematics. It covers a broad range of Astronomical topics ranging from the structure and evolution of stars to general relativity and gravitation on a cosmic scale. The following is just a brief rundown of what could be expected if you choose to take this wonderful opportunity at the University of Glasgow.
First Year Astronomy - A1
Astronomy 1 (A1) is an introductory course for students who wish to study Astronomy as a combined degree or who just wish to know more about planets, stars and the cosmos around them.
The A1 course is treated as a quantitative subject, involving the use of Physics and Mathematics throughout. It is a full year course with lectures in both semesters that are accompanied by a weekly class tutorial and a laboratory session in which you can begin to get to grips with the more practical side of astronomy!
Semester 1
The first semester in A1 is mainly focused on the elements of our own solar system. The courses in this semester consist of
- Positional Astronomy
- Dynamical Astronomy
- Solar System Physics 1
- Solar System Physics 2
Positional Astronomy is where you will learn to consider the position of the sky and the apparent motion of celestial objects in it. This will include learning about the Celestial Sphere, the co-ordinate systems related to it and the apparent motion of the objects in our solar system. In addition the skills you learn for this course can be very practical when applied to night-sky observing.
Dynamical Astronomy introduces you to Newtonian gravity and it's application to the orbital motion of stars, planets and spacecraft. Mainly you will be dealing with ellipitcal orbits, conservation laws of motion, transfer orbits and general planetary motion.
Solar System Physics is split into 2 different sections, spanning a total of 15 lectures. The first 6 lectures will give you a tour of the solar system, discussing different types of planets, their moons and the physics of their atmospheres. An introduction to Gravitation (linking to Dynamical) will also be given in relation to Newton's law and escape speeds.
The next series of 9 lectures will be taught in relation to the first set but going in to greater detail.