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Advanced Course I

Observational Astrophysics - Part 1

Optical to Radio Wavelength Range

By Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel (MPE)

Lecture 1. Radiation

introduction of key terms, effects of the Earth's atmosphere, basic methods to detect radiation, fundamental limits of detection, a breeze through modern detectors

Lecture 2. Telescopes

geometric and wave optics, interference and diffraction, radio antennae, optical/IR telescopes

Lecture 3. Spectroscopy and more

heterodyne spectroscopy: correlators and all, gratings, Fabry-Perots, Fourier Transform spectroscopy, energy resolving detectors, making a real measurement

Lecture 4. High Resolution Imaging

beating the atmosphere: adaptive optics, radio interferometry, optical/IR interferometry


Observational Astrophysics - Part 2

Extreme UV to Gamma Ray Range

By Priv. Doz. Dr. R. Diehl (MPE)

Lecture 1. Astrophysical Themes at High Energies

Astronomical information and observational methods across the different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, specific emission processes at high energies of UV and beyond; thermal emission, atomic and nuclear line emitters and absorbers, non-thermal emission

Lecture 2. High-Energy Astronomical Instrumentation

Interactions of photons with matter; grazing-incidence mirrors, photon event collectors, multiple-interaction detection and tracking devices, electromagnetic shower detection, cosmic-ray instrumentation

Lecture 3. Sources of the High-Energy Sky

Stellar evolution and typical radiation signatures, late stellar phases, explosions and compact remnants, radiation processes in the interstellar medium

Lecture 4. Lessons from High-Energy Astronomy

Mechanisms of supernovae and other explosions, the nature of compact stars, how stars determine the chemical evolution of galaxies and the universe; usage of literature databases, catalogues, and tool providers.


Accretion, Jets and GRBs

By Dr. Henk Spruit (MPA)

Lecture 1: Accretion

Accretion general: virial temperature, radiative cooling, Eddington limits.

Accretion disks: angular momentum, viscous spreading, mass-transfer, binaries, disk hydrodynamics.

Lecture 2: Accretion

Accretion disks: thin disk properties, viscosity, unsteady disks, accretion shocks, stream impact, radiatively inefficient disks.

Lecture 3: Jets: phenomenology.

Jets: relativistic kinematics, precession, internal shocks, Magnetic outflow model: observational indications, centrifugal acceleration, regimes in the outflow, efficiencies.

Magnetohydrodynamics: key concepts. Magnetic acceleration model: mathematical derivation, equivalence of the centrifugal, magnetic pressure and Poynting flux views.

Lecture 4: Jets

Jets: Launching problem, collimation, internal instabilities, poloidal collimation.

Lecture 5: GRB:

history, phenomenology, time scale problem, time scale argument, compactness, fireballs, relativistic kinematics, size of photosphere in SR, photospheric radiation, afterglow, internal shocks.

Central engines: merger model, msec magnetar model, collapsar, magnetically powered GRBs, X-ray flashes.