Scott A. Severson - Courses

Courses

• Astronomy 100 - Descriptive Astronomy
Historic astronomy, Newton's laws, gravitation, atomic structure, light, and telescopes. The solar system, space flight, stars and stellar evolution, interstellar matter, star clusters, galaxies, the universe. A survey designed primarily for non-science majors.
• Astronomy 231 - Intro Observational Astronomy
Principles of astronomical measurement techniques with field and laboratory studies of astronomical objects. Topics include identification and classification of astronomical objects, coordinate systems, use of telescopes and techniques in imaging, photometry and spectroscopy.
• Astronomy 305 - Frontiers in Astronomy
A survey of recent developments in astronomy and how these breakthroughs are made: the discovery of planets orbiting other stars; the explosive deaths of stars and the creation of neutron stars and black holes; the study of the origin and fate of the Universe, including mysterious "dark matter" and "dark energy".
• Astronomy 350 - Cosmology
A survey of what we know about the Universe and how scientists have learned it. Topics include the Big Bang, cosmic inflation, surveys of galaxies, the origin and evolution of structure in the Universe, dark matter, and dark energy.
• Astronomy 380 - Astrophysics: Stars
A quantitative study of the structure and evolution of stars, including stellar interiors and atmospheres, nucleosynthesis and late stages of stellar evolution.
• Physics 340 - Light and Optics
An examination of the properties of light from geometric and physical optics perspectives. Topics include: ray optics, refraction, diffraction, coherence, interference, and polarization. The course will present Fermat's principle, Huygen's principle and Fourier optics.
• Physics 466 - Advanced Experimental Physics
Advanced topics in lasers and photonics, materials science (including high-magnetic field measurements and surface analysis using scanning electron and atomic force microscopy), X-ray analysis, applied nuclear physics, adaptive optics.
• Physics 494 - Physics Seminar
A series of lectures on topics of interest in physics, astronomy, and related fields.