Course Content

In this course, From Planets to the Universe, students will learn about basic astronomy concepts regarding the Earth & Moon, the Solar System, observing the night sky, stars, galaxies and the Universe. The course will cover:

• The Earth and the Moon - Earth's rotation, night and day cycle, the seasons, the phases of the Moon, tides, solar and lunar eclipses.
• The Solar System - models of formation, terrestrial versus gas giant planets, comets, asteroids, Pluto and Kuiper Belt Objects.
• Observing the night sky - the celestial sphere, right ascension and declination, planetary motions, distances in astronomy.
• Stars - our Sun, nuclear fusion, spectra of stars, stellar spectral types, starbirth and the interstellar medium (ISM), the main sequence, stellar evolution, end states of stars.
• Galaxies - the stellar content and structure of the Milky Way, galaxy types, interactions and mergers of galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies.
• The Universe - redshifts and the expansion of space, big bang model, cosmic background radiation, large scale structure and modelling, dark matter, dark energy and the accelerating Universe.

Here you can download a sample presentation from SAOSC. Participants study from our custom-made course material, delivered online with accompanying downloadable PDF files.

• SAOSC Week 2 - The Solar System: Terrestrials versus Jovians and planetary evolution

All of the above topics are covered in more detail in our Units Exploring the Solar System, Exploring Stars and the Milky Way, and Exploring Galaxies and the Cosmos in our full graduate degree program Swinburne Astronomy Online.