Physical processes in astronomy

• describe the sky as seen with an X-ray instrument and compare the wide range of astrophysical sources visible at high energies
• distinguish the astrophysical processes that produce high energy emission, and relate them to the variety of X-ray sources
• explain the physical mechanisms involved at different stages of stellar evolution for different stellar masses
• Identify and describe causes of stellar variability and their observable effects
• derive and compare the fundamental properties of compact objects (white dwarves, neutron stars and black holes) and their creation as the last stages of stellar evolution
• derive and compare the properties of the X-ray binaries and the basic physics involved in accretion mechanisms
• describe the phenomena that occur in the center of active galaxies
• explain and exploit X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies.
• utilize theory to quantify astrophysical properties, such as luminosity, flux, temperature, mass, distance, etc.
• present, summarize and interpret relevant scientific articles

This course deals with some of the Universe’s most energetic objects and phenomena. It goes deep into different phases of stellar evolution and related variability, such as stellar oscillations.
The course gives further explanations of highly energetic astrophysical phenomena through their observational properties, such as temporal and spectral variations. Examples are supernova remnants, accretion mechanisms around white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes in X-ray binaries, active galaxies harbouring a supermassive black hole in their centre, and gigantic clusters of galaxies.

High-energy astrophysics is a very active area of modern astronomy, and most of what we know about its objects comes from observational studies. Due to the atmospheric absorption of high-energy photons, the observations are performed with space instruments. The physical processes, thermal or non-thermal, that produce these energetic photons are explained.
Non-electromagnetic radiations are also emitted by these high-energetic phenomena, so the course does also touches upon observations of gravitational waves.

30120/10024/10034/10036/30400

Lectures, interactive discussions, and exercises.