Taught by Professor Joshua Winn of Princeton University, this course takes you step by step through the major calculations of astrophysics, including Newton's law of gravity, a black hole's event horizon, the ignition temperature of a star, and many more. Knowledge of first-year college physics and math is assumed, but Dr. Winn-an award-winning teacher-makes the course rewarding for anyone curious about the universe.
Introduction to Astrophysics
A Princeton astrophysicist teaches you how to solve the problems that sparked a new understanding of the universe.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
RodA from
Outstanding treatment of a broad subject
Highly recommended. Dr. Wynn and his team have produced a product that covers a very broad and deep subject very well. In addition to descriptions of phenomena, he uses equations very appropriately to illustrate the underlying physics. As a former astrophysicist (Ph.D. 1980), I learned a lot. Looking forward to the next edition.
Date published: 2024-06-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Anonymous from
A superior lecture series
An Introduction to Astrophysics is the best lecture series I have seen thus far. In addition to the excellent oratory, Dr. Winn also provides the crucial underlying analytical and mathematical foundations for every topic. Other lecturers, Dr. Lincoln and Dr. Carlson in particular, also provide excellent lectures, but Dr. Winn is a step beyond. Competency in intermediate math is required for a complete understanding of the material. Upon completion of the course, the student will better understand the nature of the universe. I'm looking forward to the next lecture series from Dr. Winn.
Date published: 2024-05-10
Rated 5 out of
5
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RWCo from
Outstandingly Clear review of so many basic concep
It's hard to imagine a better course at an introductory level. No math beyond 1st semester calculus (and very little even of that) yet he gives detailed and often quantitive (order of magnitude etc.) descriptions of his topics that really deepen your appreciation for the logical links in his discussions and provide insight into the problems that make you a participant in the scientific journey. An ideal blend of numbers and insight for an interested person without any extensive background in the subject. Also very lively presentations with humor that is much appreciated as well as insight into some of the remarkable scientists who have succeeded in explaining so much with (in some ways) so little. Very inspiring.
Date published: 2023-12-17
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Secfan from
Masterful presentation
I am a retired biochemist with virtually no previous knowledge of this subject. I was immediately captivated by the polished presentation by Prof. Winn. His lecturing ability is about as good as it gets. I learned a lot and I enjoyed having been exposed to this branch of science.
Date published: 2023-06-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
AstroProf from
Great Astrophysics with the Numbers too!
Prof. Winn has done a tour de force in presenting contemporary knowledge in astrophysics. His lectures are extremely clear, and his graphics outstanding. This is no "gee-whiz" set of lectures. It gets to the nitty gritty. I'd say it would be a one-semester Junior Level course in astrophysics. For me, some of the fun was working out the "fun exercises" he mentions, thing left to the viewer to work out. His math is not at all overwhelming but youi'd need to have your calculus handy. I appreciate his connecting the theory with observation and how observations are treated to test ideas. If you are serious about what is out there and how we know, this is the course for you. Well, you don't actually HAVE to do the calculus, since he explains the results clearly. See how physicists treat data, and how ways to represent it are shown. Get the course. It is really worth it!
Date published: 2023-04-17
Rated 5 out of
5
by
FunWithPhysics from
Excellent Presentation
I have watched this show a few time and love the coverage. Yes, you will see some algebra and calculus. Dr. Winn does a fantastic job of breaking the material down for people to understand. I found the order and coverage of topics to very well designed. He does an fantastic job for conveying the concepts to give a deeper meaning to what is being presented.
Date published: 2023-04-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
wes463 from
Highly recommended for enthusiasts
I enjoyed the lecture series. Order of magnitude relations derived from first principles give good insight into the lecture topics. The approximations are useful rules of thumb for any practitioner or enthusiast in astronomy. Basic knowledge of conservation laws of mass and momentum is helpful but not required. Most derivations are within the realm of classical mechanics and are easy to follow. Professor Winn has a very pleasant presentation style that keeps the viewer engaged. The graphics are well designed and a great aid in understanding content. I recommend the course to anyone
trying to grapple with the many topics in modern astronomy.
Date published: 2023-01-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
noman from
Real science...at last
Someone who is trying to get something out of studying science will get something out of this course because it shows the development of a science as a mathematical construct and not simply opening a box of Christmas cookies. You actually come out of this course seeing how science works rather than just being fed facts. Maybe Schumacher's quantum information (his research interest) course approaches this methodology but none others that I know of. I've changed my reading from popular accounts to textbooks because of this course.
Date published: 2023-01-18
Overview
About
Dr. Joshua N. Winn is the Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. After earning his Ph.D. in Physics from MIT, he held fellowships from the National Science Foundation and NASA at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Dr. Winn's research goals are to explore the properties of planets around other stars, understand how planets form and evolve, and make progress on the age-old question of whether there are other planets capable of supporting life. He was a member of the science team of NASA's Kepler mission and is the Deputy Science Director of a future NASA mission called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 scientific articles on the subject of exoplanetary science. At MIT, Dr. Winn teaches physics and astronomy and has won several awards for his dedication to his students, including the Buechner Faculty Teaching Prize in 2008 and the School of Science Prize for Excellence in Graduate Teaching in 2013. His talent for communicating science to the general public was honed during graduate school, when he wrote for the science section of The Economist.
Trailer
01: Zooming Out to Distant Galaxies
Begin by defining the difference between astrophysics and astronomy. Then study the vast range of scales in astrophysics—from nanometers to gigaparsecs, from individual photons to the radiation of trillions of suns. Get the big picture in a breathtaking series of exponential jumps—zooming from Earth, past the planets, stars, galaxies, and finally taking in countless clusters of galaxies.
33 min
02: Zooming In to Fundamental Particles
After touring the universe on a macro scale in the previous lecture, now zoom in on the microcosmos—advancing by powers of ten into the realm of molecules, atoms, and nuclei. Learn why elementary particles are just as central to astrophysics as stars and galaxies. Then review the four fundamental forces of nature and perform a calculation that explains why atoms have to be the size they are.
32 min
03: Making Maps of the Cosmos
Discover how astrophysicists map the universe. Focus on the tricky problem of calculating distances, seeing how a collection of overlapping techniques provide a “cosmic distance ladder” that works from nearby planets (by means of radar) to stars and galaxies (using parallax and Cepheid variable stars) to far distant galaxies (by observing a type of supernova with a standard intrinsic brightness).
31 min
04: The Physics Demonstration in the Sky
In the first of two lectures on motion in the heavens, investigate the connection between Isaac Newton’s laws of motion and the earlier laws of planetary motion discovered empirically by Johannes Kepler. Find that Kepler’s third law is the ideal method for measuring the mass of practically any phenomenon in astrophysics. Also, study the mathematics behind Kepler’s second law.
32 min
05: Newton’s Hardest Problem
Continue your exploration of motion by discovering the law of gravity just as Newton might have—by analyzing Kepler’s laws with the aid of calculus (which Newton invented for the purpose). Look at a graphical method for understanding orbits, and consider the conservation laws of angular momentum and energy in light of Emmy Noether’s theory that links conservation laws and symmetry.
35 min
06: Tidal Forces
Why are the rings around Saturn and the much fainter rings around Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune at roughly the same relative distances from the planet? Why are large moons spherical? And why are large moons only found in wide orbits (i.e., not close to the planets they orbit)? These problems lead to an analysis of tidal forces and the Roche limit. Close by calculating the density of the Sun based on Earth’s ocean tides.
32 min
07: Black Holes
Use your analytical skill and knowledge of gravity to probe the strange properties of black holes. Learn to calculate the Schwarzschild radius (also known as the event horizon), which is the boundary beyond which no light can escape. Determine the size of the giant black hole at the center of our galaxy and learn about an effort to image its event horizon with a network of radio telescopes.
32 min
08: Photons and Particles
Investigate our prime source of information about the universe: electromagnetic waves, which consist of photons from gamma ray to radio wavelengths. Discover that a dense collection of photons is comparable to a gas obeying the ideal gas law. This law, together with the Stefan-Boltzmann law, Wien’s law, and Kepler’s third law, help you make sense of the cosmos as the course proceeds.
34 min
09: Comparative Planetology
Survey representative planets in our solar system with an astrophysicist’s eyes, asking what makes Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Jupiter so different. Why doesn’t Mercury have an atmosphere? Why is Venus so much hotter than Earth? Why is Jupiter so huge? Analyze these and other riddles with the help of physical principles such as the Stefan-Boltzmann law.
32 min
10: Optical Telescopes
Consider the problem of gleaning information from the severely limited number of optical photons originating from astronomical sources. Our eyes can only do it so well, and telescopes have several major advantages: increased light-gathering power, greater sensitivity of telescopic cameras and sensors such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs), and enhanced angular and spectral resolution.
32 min
11: Radio and X-Ray Telescopes
Non-visible wavelengths compose by far the largest part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Even so, many astronomers assumed there was nothing to see in these bands. The invention of radio and X-ray telescopes proved them spectacularly wrong. Examine the challenges of detecting and focusing radio and X-ray light, and the dazzling astronomical phenomena that radiate in these wavelengths.
33 min
12: The Message in a Spectrum
Starting with the spectrum of sunlight, notice that thin dark lines are present at certain wavelengths. These absorption lines reveal the composition and temperature of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, and similar lines characterize other stars. More diffuse phenomena such as nebulae produce bright emission lines against a dark spectrum. Probe the quantum and thermodynamic events implied by these clues.
32 min
13: The Properties of Stars
Take stock of the wide range of stellar luminosities, temperatures, masses, and radii using spectra and other data. In the process, construct the celebrated Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, with its main sequence of stars in the prime of life, including the Sun. Note that two out of three stars have companions. Investigate the orbital dynamics of these binary systems.
34 min
14: Planets around Other Stars
Embark on Professor Winn’s specialty: extrasolar planets, also known as exoplanets. Calculate the extreme difficulty of observing an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star in our stellar neighborhood. Then look at the clever techniques that can now overcome this obstacle. Review the surprising characteristics of many exoplanets and focus on five that are especially noteworthy.
33 min
15: Why Stars Shine
Get a crash course in nuclear physics as you explore what makes stars shine. Zero in on the Sun, working out the mass it has consumed through nuclear fusion during its 4.5-billion-year history. While it’s natural to picture the Sun as a giant furnace of nuclear bombs going off non-stop, calculations show it’s more like a collection of toasters; the Sun is luminous simply because it’s so big.
34 min
16: Simple Stellar Models
Learn how stars work by delving into stellar structure, using the Sun as a model. Relying on several physical principles and sticking to order-of-magnitude calculations, determine the pressure and temperature at the center of the Sun, and the time it takes for energy generated in the interior to reach the surface, which amounts to thousands of years. Apply your conclusions to other stars.
34 min
17: White Dwarfs
Discover the fate of solar mass stars after they exhaust their nuclear fuel. The galaxies are teeming with these dim “white dwarfs” that pack the mass of the Sun into a sphere roughly the size of Earth. Venture into quantum theory to understand what keeps these exotic stars from collapsing into black holes, and learn about the Chandrasekhar limit, which determines a white dwarf’s maximum mass.
34 min
18: When Stars Grow Old
Trace stellar evolution from two points of view. First, dive into a protostar and witness events unfold as the star begins to contract and fuse hydrogen. Exhausting that, it fuses heavier elements and eventually collapses into a white dwarf—or something even denser. Next, view this story from the outside, seeing how stellar evolution looks to observers studying stars with telescopes.
33 min
19: Supernovas and Neutron Stars
Look inside a star that weighs several solar masses to chart its demise after fusing all possible nuclear fuel. Such stars end in a gigantic explosion called a supernova, blowing off outer material and producing a super-compact neutron star, a billion times denser than a white dwarf. Study the rapid spin of neutron stars and the energy they send beaming across the cosmos.
33 min
20: Gravitational Waves
Investigate the physics of gravitational waves, a phenomenon predicted by Einstein and long thought to be undetectable. It took one of the most violent events in the universe—colliding black holes—to generate gravitational waves that could be picked up by an experiment called LIGO on Earth, a billion light years away. This remarkable achievement won LIGO scientists the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics.
32 min
21: The Milky Way and Other Galaxies
Take in our entire galaxy, called the Milky Way. Locate Earth’s position; then survey other galaxies, classifying their structure. Use the virial theorem to analyze a typical galaxy, which can be thought of as a “collisionless gas” of stars. Note that galaxies themselves often collide with each other, as the nearby Andromeda Galaxy is destined to do with the Milky Way billions of years from now.
32 min
22: Dark Matter
Begin with active galaxies that have supermassive black holes gobbling up nearby stars. Then consider clusters of galaxies and the clues they give for missing mass—dubbed “dark matter.” Chart the distribution of dark matter around galaxies and speculate what it might be. Close with the Big Bang, deduced from evidence that most galaxies are speeding away from us; the farther away, the faster.
31 min
23: The First Atoms and the First Nuclei
The Big Bang theory is one pillar of modern cosmology. Another is the cosmic microwave background radiation, which is the faint “echo” of the Big Bang, permeating all of space and discovered in 1965. The third pillar is the cosmic abundances of the lightest elements, which tell the story of the earliest moment of nucleosynthesis taking place in the first few minutes of the Big Bang.
34 min
24: The History of the Universe
In this last lecture, follow the trail of the greatest unsolved problem in astrophysics. Along the way, get a grip on the past, present, and future of the universe. Discovered in the 1990s, the problem is “dark energy,” which is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. Trace this mysterious force to the lambda term in the celebrated Friedmann equation, proposed in the 1920s.
37 min
