Course code

MLF6012.LT

old course code

Course title in Estonian

Astronoomia praktikum ja astrofüüsika

Course title in English

Astrophysics and Laboratory Practice in Astronomy

ECTS credits

3.0

Assessment form

Examination

lecturer of 2026/2027 Autumn semester

Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.

lecturer of 2026/2027 Spring semester

Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.

Course aims

To enable the acquisition of the basic knowledge of astrophysics. Allow students to deepen their understanding of astronomy development field, creating opportunities to control the pattern of real and practical tasks through observation in day and night following the safety procedures.

Brief description of the course

Spectrum and spectral classification of stars. The Sun, star model. Measuring stars: apparent and true brightness of a star, stellar magnitude system, brightness measurement, parallax, temperature and color, color indices, mass and radius. HR diagram and its interpretation, brightness classes.
Stages of star development: birth, life, death, remnants of a star. Life of a star in a close binary system. Milky Way galaxy. Structures of galaxies and evolution of galaxies. Active galaxies and quasars. Solving problems on various topics.

Practical work for indoor and outdoor practical classes: Geography of the Moon and Observation and photography of the Moon. Properties of planets, observation and photography, determining distance, use of Bahtinov mask in photography. Starry sky and constellations, observation of binary stars. Pulsars, mapping of spiral arms of galaxies and classification of galaxies by images, classification of stellar spectra, imaging and studying the spectrum of the Sun, parallax, HR diagram, safe observation of the Sun and, if possible, determining the rotation speed.
The subject also includes dark time practicals.

Learning outcomes in the course

Upon completing the course the student:
- knows the physics of stars and galaxies and is able to solve problems related to them;
- knows and is familiar with various telescopes, can set them up and safely perform fieldwork tasks;
- knows about the starry sky, the laws of its movement and observation techniques;
- is familiar with the night sky, the movement regularities and survey techniques;

Teacher

Dots Katrin Laas PhD

Prerequisite course 1

Astronomy (MLF6036.LT)

Study programmes containing that course

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