Program Overview

PHYS4122: Astrophysics and Space Science

Overview

The field of astrophysics spans length and time scales unseen in any other area of science, and to understand this field, we must synthesise knowledge of a huge number of different physical processes. The aim of PHYS4122 is to teach students about the complexity of our Universe via advanced-level treatments of several concepts that are central to modern astrophysics research.

Unit Details and Rules

• Managing Faculty or University School: Science
• Study Level: Undergraduate
• Academic Unit: Physics Academic Operations
• Credit Points: 6
• Enrolment Rules:
  • Prerequisites: An average of at least 65 in 144 credit points of units
  • Corequisites: None
  • Prohibitions: None
  • Assumed Knowledge: A major in physics

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

• LO1. Demonstrate understanding of the physics underlying astrophysical situations, and use these concepts to describe the system under consideration.
• LO2. Synthesise knowledge from the undergraduate syllabus and apply physics knowledge and mathematical skills to solve astrophysical problems.
• LO3. Evaluate different theoretical models applying to a system and assess the applicability of these models.
• LO4. Analyse astrophysical observations and numerical simulations to construct a physical model for an astrophysical system.

Unit Availability

The unit is available in various sessions, including:

• Semester 1 2025: Normal day, Camperdown / Darlington, Sydney
• Semester 1 2026: Normal day, Camperdown / Darlington, Sydney
• Previous years: Various sessions and locations, including remote attendance options.

Modes of Attendance

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when selecting units. The unit is available in normal day attendance mode.

Research Areas

The unit covers several areas of active research, including:

• Cosmic structure emergence
• Plasma and dark matter
• Gravitational dynamics
• Radio astronomy
• Asteroseismology
• Galaxy morphology and evolution
• Astroparticle physics