Cosmic Beginnings and Endings

The study of astronomy is driven by questions about the origins and ultimate fate of objects in the cosmos. Astronomical time scales often far exceed human ones, meaning that we rarely get to watch astronomy happen in the same way that we can watch experiments in a traditional physics laboratory. Astronomers can only observe objects as they are and must develop theories and models about how they came to be and how they might cease to be. In this course, we will explore scientific models about the cosmic beginnings and endings of some of the most fundamental objects in the Universe (and of the Universe itself). Topics will include the Big Bang, the ultimate fate of the Universe, the formation of the first stars and galaxies, the births and deaths of stars, and the search for life in the Universe. The course has no prerequisites, but students should expect to solve quantitative problems using algebra and trigonometry and to read scientific articles regarding recent astronomical discoveries.