Astrophysics for University Physics Courses Donat G. Wentzel, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421, USA
Written for United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
A project supported by Commission 46, Teaching of Astronomy of the International Astronomical Union
July 1998

Introduction Table of numerical values Relevant books (in English) 1. Mechanics - Orbits and Kepler's third law 1.1 The first human voyage to Mars orbital periods 1.2 The first human voyage to Mars energy equation 1.3 Planets around stars other than the Sun orbits in center-of-mass frame, Doppler shift 1.4 Binary Stars activity: measurement of Doppler shift in stellar spectrum 1.5 The stellar black hole Cyg X-1 black hole - Schwarzschild radius 1.6 The mass of our Milky Way Galaxy gravity within a spherical mass distribution 1.7 The 109-solar-mass black hole at the center of the galaxy M84 2. More Mechanics of the Solar System 2.1 A walk on asteroid Icarus surface gravity, escape velocity 2.2 The planetary slingshot effect frames of reference - the question of accuracy 2.3 Can a dust grain destroy a space probe? collisions - kinetic energy 2.4 An asteroid impact on Earth collisions - a new scientific judgement 2.5 The clean-up of the Solar System collision cross section - mean free path - kinetic theory 3. More Mechanics: Neutron stars and clusters of galaxies 3.1 Gravity on a neutron star density of nuclear matter, centrifugal force 3.2 Accretion disks around neutron stars activity: the orbital period of Her X-1 3.3 Radiation from neutron star, accretion disk energy in Keplerian orbits 3.4 Crab Nebula and pulsar slow-down rotational energy - moment of inertia 3.5 Clusters of galaxies and cosmology integral conditions

4. Thermal radiation 4.1 Temperatures on Icarus, Moon, and Mars Stefan-Boltzmann law 4.2 The radii of stars Stefan-Boltzmann law - selection effect in data interpretation 4.3 The surface temperature of a neutron star energy conservation - Wien's law 4.4 The solar corona and clusters of galaxies Wien's law - Bremsstrahlung 5. The lives of stars 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Sun and Betelgeuse hydrostatic equilibrium - isothermal atmosphere 5.3 The Sun in its youth energy conservation: heat and radiation from gravity 5.4 The Sun in middle age E = mc2 - nuclear fusion 5.5 The Sun in middle age one-step integration of hydrostatic equilibrium 5.6 The Sun's old age quantum effects - pressure due to degenerate electrons 5.7 The short-lived massive stars radiation diffusion equation - scaling of parameters 5.8 The most luminous stars Thomson scattering cross section 6. Cosmic magnetic fields 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Sunspots and their tera-Amperes solenoid - magnetostatics - Zeeman effect 6.3 Solar coronal mass ejection conservation of magnetic and kinetic energies 6.4 The solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere magnetic and dynamic pressure 6.5 Sunspots and the Earth's climate magnetic pressure 6.6 Magnetic fields of white dwarfs and neutron stars Faraday's law of induction 7. High-Energy Astrophysics electromagnetic radiation 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The Crab Nebula synchroton radiation - relativistic beaming 7.3 The Crab Nebula synchroton radiation - total power 7.4 Gamma rays from quasars inverse Compton radiation 7.5 The magnetic field of pulsars low-frequency magnetic "dipole" radiation Appendix