AS5525 Advanced Extragalactic Astronomy

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

15

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Available only to students on MSc Astrophysics.

Module coordinator

Prof V Wild

Prof V Wild
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Prof Vivienne Wild

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module introduces the core elements of extragalactic Astronomy and offers the opportunity for students to independently explore large astronomy datasets with the goal of answering open-ended research questions. Module content includes the morphological, structural and spectral properties of various galaxy types. We study changes in galaxy populations from the early Universe into those observed in our local neighbourhood, including the coincident growth of super massive black holes at the centres of massive galaxies. Galaxy formation theory is introduced in relation to the growth of structure in a cold-dark matter Universe. Specialist lecturers from galaxy evolution researchers provide a direct link between material learnt in lectures and research currently being undertaken at the University of St Andrews.

Relationship to other modules

Anti-requisites

YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU TAKE AS4010

Co-requisites

YOU MUST ALSO TAKE AS5500

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 30%, Examination = 70%

Re-assessment

N/A

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

3 lectures or tutorials

Scheduled learning hours

30

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

120

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • be able to obtain galaxy properties from observational evidence and describe the differences in galaxy populations and properties over the course of the Universe in terms of galaxy evolution
  • be able to describe the formation of galaxies in terms of observational cosmology
  • be able to apply basic physical principles to galaxy evolution and formation processes
  • be able to engage with current research data and astronomical databases in order to independently investigate concepts covered in the module material.