The course covers the following topics: The diffuse universe; line emission processes; collisional excitation; line transfer effects; collision ionization equilibrium; cooling plasmas; interstellar shocks; theory of photoionised regions; parameters of photoionised regions and interstellar dust.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Understand the processes by which continuum and line radiation is produced in the interstellar medium.
- Understand how collisional excitation and photoionization determine the populations of ions in their different energy levels.
- Understand the formation of the emission spectrum in photoionised regions including HII regions, planetary nebulae and active galactic nuclei; estimation of the parameters of such regions.
- Understand the formation of shocks in the interstellar medium and the resultant spectra.
- Understand the physics of the cooling function for astrophysical plasma and its important role in different contexts.
- Understand the physics of dust in the interstellar medium and its effect on the emitted spectrum.
Indicative Assessment
- Participation and performance in lectures and tutorials (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
- Assignments (40) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
- Research Project - Essay (25) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
- Resarch Project - Oral presentation (25) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
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Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:
- Face-to face component which may consist of 4 hours of lectures and tutorials per week
- Approximately 82 hours of self-study which will include preparation for lectures, presentations and other assessment tasks (average 6 hours per week spent on assignments and the major project).
Inherent Requirements
To be determined
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Astrophysics of the Diffuse Universe by M.A. Dopita and R.S. Sutherland. Springer, 2003, ISBN 3-540-43362-7 This may be purchased in book form. Alternatively an electronic version of this will be made available at a cost of $20.
Assumed Knowledge
Students should have completed PHYS2013 — Quantum Mechanics and PHYS2016 — Electromagnetism, or their equivalents.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $4200 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $6000 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.