Overview

This unit aims to develop a conceptual understanding of the Universe and our place in it, with a broad overview of how astronomical observations and data analysis inform that understanding.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
04-August-2025
02-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-August-2025
Census date
31-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Describe our place in the Universe using a historical context
  • Use basic physical laws to describe the motion of celestial bodies in the Universe
  • Identify astronomical objects such as stars, planets and galaxies, and current areas of astronomical research
  • Analyse modern observing techniques, and different telescope design for different wavelength regimes
  • Make and interpret measurements from modern astronomical datasets
  • Apply and adapt basic techniques for computation and data analysis in a Python environment to illustrate and describe astronomical systems and processes.

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Lecture		 2.00  12 weeks  24
On-campus
Class		 2.00  10 weeks  20
On-campus
Lab		 3 2 weeks  6
Online
Learning activities		 1.00  12 weeks  12
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning		 7.33  12 weeks  88
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Assignment Individual  15 - 25%  1,2,3,4
Examination Individual  40 - 50%  1,2,3,4,5 
Report Individual/Group  20 - 40% 2,3,4,5,6

Hurdle

As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all ULOs to a minimum standard, an undergraduate student must have achieved:

(i) an aggregate mark of 50% or more, and
(ii) at least 40% in the final exam.

Students who do not successfully achieve hurdle requirement (ii) will receive a maximum of 45% as the total mark for the unit.

Content

  • Our place in the Cosmos: History of astronomy, observing the night sky, the scale of the Universe, basic laws of physics
  • Observational Astronomy: The electromagnetic spectrum, telescopes and observing techniques
  • Introduction to Python with applications to Astronomy
  • The Solar Neighbourhood and beyond: The Sun and the planets, minor planets asteroids and comets, other worlds
  • The Birth, Life and Death of Stars: Stellar nurseries, the evolution of stars, creation of the elements, the end products of stars, black holes, neutron stars
  • Galaxies and cosmology: Our galaxy the Milky Way, the early Universe, growth of structure, galaxy formation and evolution, the Big Bang and the fate of the Universe
  • Life in the Universe: Life on Earth and in the Solar System, conditions for life, the search for life in the Universe, SETI

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.