Radio Astronomy

3 cr · Undergraduate

This course will provide an introduction to observational radio astronomy and processes in radio astrophysics. Topics will include: an introduction to radio astronomy; basic radiative transfer; blackbody radiation and radiation from an accelerated charge; radio telescopes, receivers, and interferometers; thermal continuum sources (e.g., HII regions); non-thermal continuum sources (e.g., radio galaxies); pulsars; and spectral-line sources (e.g., the 21 cm line, radio recombination lines, and rotational energy transitions in simple molecules). May not be held with PHYS 4300 when the topic taught is "Radio Astronomy."