PHYS 890BG

The course will cover a broad range of astrophysics topics through readings of selected peer-reviewed astrophysics papers, problem sets, journal club-style presentations of current astrophysics papers, and written exams. Performance on these exercises and presentations will make up half of the grade. The other half of the grade will be from a literature review, focusing on Lutetium incorporation in planetesimals and planets during the planet formation stage, asteroid types that will be best-suited to preserve Lu176 for future study, the orbital dynamics of Earth-impacting planetesimals, and which meteorite types are the best for studying Lu176.