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Structure and Evolution of Stars

Mechanical, Thermal and Nuclear time scales – Hydrostatic equilibrium (Newtonian and Relativistic) – Polytropic Equation of State – Lane Emden Equation – Degenerte matter Equation of State – White Dwafs and Chandrasekhar limit – Virial Theorem - Radiative Equilibrium – Schwarzschild convection criterion – nuclear energy generation – stages of nuclear burning – full set of stellar structure equations – example solutions – HR diagram and the main sequence – Schonberg-Chandrasekhar limit – post- main sequence evolution – Hayashi tracks – Horizontal branch – giant and asymptotic giant branches

Planetary Sciences

Overview of Solar system - Dynamics: Two-body problem, Three-Body Problem (Lagrangian points) - Resonances - Tidal forces - Solar energy balance and transport: Radiative Equilibrium - Planetary Atmospheres: Structure, Composition, Atmospheric Escape - Planetary surfaces: Surface morphology - Impact cratering - Minor Bodies: Meteories, Asteroids, Comets, Minor planets, Trans-Neptunian Objects, Centaurs - Planetary rings - Planet formation: Evolution of protoplanetary disks, Growth of solid bodies, Formation of Terrestrial and Giant planets - Planetary Migration: - Extrasolar Planets: Detecti

Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics

Sky coordinates and motions: Earth Rotation - Sky c oordinates - seasons - phases of the Moon - the Moon's orbit and eclipses - timekeeping (side real vs synodic period); Planetary motions - Kepler's Laws - Gravity; Light & Energy - Telescope s - Optics - Detectors; Planets: Formation of Solar System - planet types - planet atmospheres - extrasolar planets; Stars: Measuring stellar characteristics (temperature, distance, luminosity, mass, size) - HR diagram - stellar structure (equilibrium, nuclear reactions, energy transport) - stellar evolution; Galaxies: Our Milky Way - Galactic stru

Data Analysis Astronomy Lab

Tutorials on Fitting techniques (linear and non-linear, fits to data with experimental errors, evaluating goodness of fit, etc) and error analysis , Handling of data and getting familiar with data analysis packages like IRAF, AIPS and CASA. Th is includes an introduction, beginners tutorials and exercises in these softwares as well as and X-ray data analysis

Computational Astrophysics

Overview of numerical computation - Simple problems: data sorting, root finding etc. - Numerical solutions of algebraic equations - Numerical integration, interpolation/extrapolation - Numerical differentiation - Ordinary differential equations - Partial differential equations - Statistics, Least-squares fitting - Data crunching, dealing large data set - Fourier transform - Advanced Applications in Astrophysics: N-Body Methods, Hydrodynamics - Monte Carlo Methods

Radiation Processes in Astrophysics

Concepts of Radiative Transfer – special relativity – Maxwell’s equations – Wave equation – retarded potentials – radiation field – Poynting vector – radiation from accelerated charge – bremsstrahlung – Thomson and Compton scattering – synchrotron radiation – thermal and non-thermal distribution of radiating particles – non-thermal synchrotron radiation – self-absorption – synchrotron and Compton cooling – Inverse Compton catastrophe and brightness temperature limit – propagation effects: dispersion, faraday rotation, depolarization – Atomic and molecular spectra – fine structure and hyperf

Astronomical Techniques

Telescopes and Detectors – optical, infrared, radio, x-rays, gamma-rays, neutrinos and cosmic rays; Gravitational radiation; Detection of dark matter and Dark Energy Astronomy from Space;Imaging – focal plane imagers, PSF and deconvolution, interferometry Photometry, Spectroscopy, Polarimetry, Astrometry; Solar telescopes; Surveys, Astronomical databases, Virtual Observatory

Atmospheric and Oceanic Instrumentation and Measurement Techniques

Instruments and Measurement Systems: Instrument Response, Measurement Quality, Signal to Noise ratio, Measurement Artifacts, Instrument Response Time, Instrumental Time Resolution, Detection Limit and Sensivity, Sources of Uncertainties, Calibration procedures. Basic statistics, concept of error and uncertainty analysis, Error analysis, probability distribution functions, regression analysis, least square fit, goodness of fit, uncertainties in the fit, propagation of error for a simple linear system.

Land – Atmosphere Interaction Dynamics

Introduction to hydrometeorology, hydrologic and bio geochemical cycles, Water vapour in atmosphere, Vertical gradients in atmosphere, Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Surface Energy balances, Sensible heat flux, Latent heat flux, heat budgets, Plant canopy interactions with the atmosphere. Evaporation, evapotranspiration and their measurements, empirical equations, potential evapotranspiration, Global carbon cycling, Leaf energy fluxes, vegetation dynamics, Canopy processes and Canopy resistance.

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