Aims of the course
- To provide a full structure and understanding to your learning in this subject, through a framework that gives a clear and comprehensive understanding of the nature of the universe through a review of its origin, structure, and evolution from the Big Bang to today, and on into the future.
- To provide an understanding of modern cosmology, the scientific study of the large-scale properties of the universe as a whole.
- To provide a framework, in this present golden era of astronomy, within which you may better understand the science of astronomy encountered on multimedia, and to place into context the importance of new discoveries.
- To help you take full advantage of online resources, such as YouTube astronomy channels, audiobooks, and astronomy books aimed at the general public.
- To encourage you to attend astronomical observing opportunities and consider undertaking additional astronomy courses elsewhere.
Target audience
Non-astronomers who are captivated by the night sky and simply wonder 'why'?
Course content overview
Assuming no prior knowledge, (but students may wish to complete the 'An introduction to astronomy: exploring the wonders of our Universe' online course first) as celestial explorers in today’s modern era of precision cosmology, and armed with full-spectrum vision and multi-messenger tools, we’ll explore the entire history of our Universe. From birth to death through its origin, evolution, and structure, with precise, reliable answers based on a spectacular series of recent breakthroughs in the last few decades.
Cosmology, an ambitious field that concerns itself with the entire universe, as well as all of time, is presently in the midst of a truly remarkable period of growth, particularly in the last 20 to 30 years. Precision is indeed possible, even on the grandest of scales, in which to nail down the various parameters, with an uncertainty in these values of just ~1% or so, that have worked in concert to determine the structure of the universe over its eons of existence, along with all the eons to come - long sought-after numbers that define the form and age of the universe.
A universe that is vast, pushing comprehension to its limits, but surprisingly one that bears witness to the fact that the consistency of our laws of nature throughout the universe means that it is understandable. This is a remarkable fact, for as Neil DeGrasse Tyson points out, the Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you, and yet the same laws of science apply everywhere. That is, the laws of physics are universal. This is why we can use spectroscopy and studies of the behaviour of distant stars and planets under gravity to derive information about them. Atoms in distant stars and galaxies obey the same quantum laws everywhere, allowing us to interpret information conveyed by their spectra. The motions of planets, stars, galaxies and galaxy clusters can be understood using the universal laws of gravity and motion, whether we use the version complied by Newton or Einstein.
By the end of this course, we will understand how cosmology, as a subject, which not that long ago carried a faint hint of disreputable scientific study, has moved from pure and often wild speculations, to the most solid of solid scientific foundations. A universe that we now comprehend was birthed from a microscopic dot of existence to the size of a watermelon through faster-than-light expansion for the merest fraction of a fraction of a second. But the universe, that we could understand and live in, then followed, born silently in the shortest of instances, in a torrent of energy in full blazing light. Then, following basic scientific laws within the first three minutes of its existence, proceeding the creation of subatomic particles, the light elements, hydrogen, and helium, were formed. From the creation of the first atoms, and the operation of the known forces of physics, the rest was history, as laid out beautifully in the LambdaCDM model, our current best picture of the origin and evolution of the Universe.
From dark matter to dark energy, cosmic inflation and the possibility of a multiverse, we will comprehend the full wealth of mysteries of this vast universe. An observable universe that was once considered finite and unbounded, as in the surface of a sphere by analogy with nothing outside of it, is now thought likely infinite and more or less flat in shape, with any possible curvature only visible in the metaverse beyond.
To comprehend this stunningly rich and coherent picture presented by modern observational cosmology, that is dominated by the Big Bang theory, requires getting to grips with the two essential languages for cosmology: General Relativity, Einstein’s theory of gravity; and the Standard Model of physics, which explains how the basic building blocks of matter interact, governed by four fundamental forces.
Armed with this knowledge we will address some of the biggest questions in modern astronomy, such as: What came before the Big Bang? How old is the universe? Will the universe end? and if so, how? In addition we will touch on some of its most fundamental mysteries which remain unsolved. So, if you truly wish to expand your horizons, and occasionally blow your mind in the process, then please join me for this one truly amazing journey
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)
Orientation Week: 24-30 October 2022
Teaching Weeks: 31 October-4 December 2022
Feedback Week: 5-11 December 2022
Teaching Week 1: Evidence for the Big Bang
This week will cover:
- On the basis of the Cosmological Principle determining what evidence we can find in the universe of its birth in a Big Bang.
- A measure of the expanding universe and the problematic issue in determining its expansion rate.
- Understanding the cosmic microwave background radiation, or the relic heat of the Big Bang, and concluding with a consideration of the competitor models to the Big Bang, in particular the Steady State theory.
Teaching Week 2: An inventory of the contents of the universe
This week will cover:
- Understanding the composition of our 5% of the universe and its various components comprising normal matter, radiation and neutrinos.
- Reviewing and understanding both Dark Matter and Dark Energy, with its accelerated expansion of the universe, which is contrary to what we had expected.
- Concluding with figuring out how stuff, or matter, is distributed in the cosmos with a view to mathematically modelling it.
Teaching Week 3: Modelling the universe
This week will cover:
- Defining what is 4-dimensional spacetime, and also the cosmic scale factor as a measure of an expanding universe.
- Applying the theory of General Relativity to the whole universe to obtain first the Einstein model, along with its cosmological constant, and then the later FLRW model.
- A discussion of the FLRW model and its solution in the form of the two Friedmann equations. We'll consider the implicit nature of an evolving universe built into those equations, and how the evolution of the cosmos is determined over time by the changing nature of the energy densities of its three key components.
- Concluding with a discussion of the family of models contained within the FLRW model, and which currently matches our universe the best.
Teaching Week 4: Ages of the universe and the early universe
This week will cover:
- Based on the FLRW model we'll consider the possible geometry that our universe possesses, the likelihood for a flat universe and its implications regarding a finite or infinite nature for our universe. And why we must move beyond General Relativity to some new quantum theory of gravity.
- We'll give some thought to how we can understand the very moment of the Big Bang itself, and the potential theories that outline the moment of creation. Followed by a brief review of the 5 cosmological ages, or eras that describe the entire history of the cosmos.
- Concluding with a discussion of the first major era of the universe, the Primordial Era, in which many events happen extremely rapidly, including inflation and Big Bang nucleosynthesis, which creates the lightest elements. And ending with recombination leading to the light we see as the relic heat of the Big Bang.
Teaching Week 5: Present and late future of the universe
This week will cover:
- The second era, the Stelliferous Era, the age of stars, beginning with the first stars and galaxies in the universe marking cosmic dawn, and then ending with their disappearance from the cosmic stage.
- In conclusion, we step through the remaining era's, the Degenerate Era, the Black Hole Era and the Dark Era, with a discussion on the fate, or fates of the universe in light of dark energy. And consideration of such concepts such as the multiverse.
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Virtual Learning Environment
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards etc).
Certificate of participation
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.