The UMBC Physics Department offers a range of Astronomy/Astrophyics courses for those interesting undergraduates needing to fullfil their GFE requirements (i.e. non-calculus/conceptual courses) to Graduate-level electives. Science-orientated students should also be aware that UMBC offers a Astronomy Minor.

Courses for Non-Science Majors

PHYS 105 Ideas in Astronmy Prerequistes: None Corequistes: None

Courses for Science Majors

under construction

Courses for students thinking about the Astronomy Minor

The following courses are either required, or may be taken as part of the minimum 20 credits required for the Astronomy Minor. Note some courses are prerequists for later courses.

PHYS 121 (required) This course emphasizes classical mechanics. Topics include force, particle kinematics and dynamics, equilibrium, Newton's laws of motion and gravitation, rotational motion, collisions, momentum, energy and conservation laws.

PHYS 122 (required) This course emphasizes electricity, magnetism, heat and thermodynamics. Topics include Coulomb's law, Gauss's law, electric fields and electric potential, currents, simple circuits and Kirchhoff's laws, generation of magnetic fields by charges in motion, electromagnetic induction, magnetic materials, oscillatory circuits, temperature, heat and the laws of thermodynamics.

PHYS 304 (required) This course presents a calculus-based introduction to key concepts in the science of astronomy and astrophysics. The course is designed for physics majors and other science majors with strong interest in astronomy, physics and mathematics. The course details some of the primary physical concepts relevant to astronomy and astrophysics and also lays the foundation for more advanced coursework in astrophysics.

PHYS 305 (optional) A survey of the life and death of stars. Topics include star formation, stellar structure and evolution, stellar death (white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes), supernovae, binary star systems, accretion onto compact objects and X-ray sources.

PHYS 316 (optional) An introduction to modern cosmology, including evidence for the Big Bang and the expanding universe, the formation of light elements in the early universe, the effect of dark matter on the formation of large-scale structure in the universe and galaxy motions, gravitational lenses, observations of quasars, the intergalactic medium and measurement of cosmological parameters.

PHYS 415 (optional) Detection of radiation and data analysis techniques covering spatial, spectral and timing data. Hands-on, practical experience will be combined with a knowledge of the fundamentals of astrophysics gained from previous astronomy courses. Students will complete a research project using UMBC's 32 telescope and data obtained from the High Energy Astrophysics Archive (HEASARC). Experience using state-of-the-art astronomical software to analyze data will be gained.

PHYS 415 (optional) Special relativity, general relativity from a modern viewpoint, the Schwarzschild solution, other solutions of the Einstein field equation, the role of general relativity in astrophysics and an introduction to the unified field theories.