Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Open Lectures in Astronomy and Cosmology


What is out there? Are we alone? Did time have a beginning? What is a black hole? Is there another Earth? What are planets made of? How did the solar system form? How hot is the sun? What is a star made of? How did the universe form? How large is the universe? Will the universe last forever? etc etc. We have numerous questions about the world beyond the Earth's atmosphere and the Earth itself, from the very beginning of the universe to the ultimate fate of the universe.

This is a collection of open lectures in astronomy and cosmology discussing the origins, physics, and evolution of celestial objects and the universe as a whole. They can help us better understand the physical nature of the universe and our place in the universe.


Survey of Astronomy (Missouri State Univ.)
What is a star made of? How hot is the sun? What's the difference between a galactic cluster and a globular cluster? How did the Solar System form? Taught by Prof. Becky Baker, this course tries to answer these questions and many more, providing a comprehensive overview of the objects and events beyond the Earth's atmosphere and the Earth itself, as a planetary member of the Solar System.

Introduction to Planetary Science and Astronomy (csuDHTV)
Instructor: Dr. Bruce Bett. This course will be an introductory astronomy survey course with a strong emphasis in planetary science. There will be overviews of all the major bodies in our solar system, as well as stars, galaxies, origins and evolution of the solar system and the universe, and the possibility of life in the universe.

Introduction to General Astronomy (UC Berkeley)
Instructor: Professor Marc Davis. This course provides a description of modern astronomy with emphasis on the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the Universe.

The Planets (UC Berkeley)
What are planets made of? Why do they orbit the sun the way they do? How do planets form, and what are they made of? What makes the Earth hospitable for life? In this course, Prof. Geoffrey Marcy will introduce basic physics, chemistry, and math to understand planets, moons, rings, comets, asteroids, atmospheres, and oceans.

Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics (Yale Univ.)
Instructor: Professor Charles Bailyn. This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy.

The Early Universe (MIT OCW)
Taught by Professor Alan Guth, this course provides an introduction to modern cosmology. The first part of the course deals with the classical cosmology, and later part with modern particle physics and its recent impact on cosmology.

Cosmology (UC Irvine)
Instructor: Professor James Bullock. Cosmology is the study of the origin and evolution of the Universe itself - the totality of phenomena of time and space. During this course, you'll have the opportunity to study the cosmos from the modern perspective - what we know and what we're not sure about.

Cosmology (Stanford Univ.)
Taught by Professor Leonard Susskind, this course concentrates on cosmology, the science of the origin and development of the universe. Topics covered include the Big Bang, the geometry of space-time, inflationary cosmology, cosmic microwave background, dark matter, dark energy, the anthropic principle, and the string theory landscape.

Cosmology and Black Holes (Stanford Univ.)
Instructor: Professor Leonard Susskind. This course focuses on string theory with regard to important issues in contemporary physics. Topics include: 1) the impact of string theory on the pursuit of black holes; 2) the string theory landscape and the implications for cosmology; and 3) the Holographic Principle and its applications.

Life in the Universe (UC Irvine)
Instructor: Professor James Bullock. This course provides an overview of the scientific quest to discover life elsewhere in the universe. Topics include the origin of life on Earth, Mars, extrasolar planets, interstellar travel, and extraterrestrial intelligence.

Origins: From the Big Bang to the Emergence of Humans (UC Berkeley)
Taught by Prof. Charles Marshall and Prof. Eliot Quataert, this course will cover our modern scientific understanding of origins, from the Big Bang to the formation of planets like Earth, evolution by natural selection, the genetic basis of evolution, and the emergence of humans.

Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life (University of Edinburgh)
Instructor: Professor Charles Cockell. Over two thousand years ago, the ancient Greeks wondered if other worlds were habitable. In the coming years this question will be experimentally tested. This course is an introduction to astrobiology. It explores the origin and evolution of life on the Earth and its potential to exist elsewhere.

Astrobiology and Space Exploration (Stanford Univ.)
Instructors: Professor Lynn Rothschild and other scientists and astronauts. This course discusses evolution in the context of space and time, focusing on the emergence of life in a planetary context on Earth and possibly elsewhere as well as the evolution of intelligence and the search for it elsewhere.

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