ASTR 101
Stars: From Suns to Black Holes Fall 2025
Division III

Have you ever wondered what makes the Sun and stars shine and what they are made of? Do they evolve, and if so, how do they change? What are black holes, and how can they form? How do we find planets around other stars? Astronomy 101, a non-major, general introduction to the part of contemporary astronomy that includes how stars form and die, will provide answers to these questions. We will pay special attention to exciting discoveries made in the past decade. Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, with their atmospheres being studied in detail by the James Webb Space telescope. For the first time, gravitational waves from merging black holes have been detected. In this course we will discuss the basic methods and instruments used in these and other astronomical observations and what they can teach us about the life cycle of stars. We will discuss what happens at the centers of stars, how stars evolve, and why some stars explode and form neutron stars and black holes. This course is independent of and on the same level as ASTR 102 (solar system) and 104 (galaxies/cosmology); students who have taken these courses are welcome.