Prospectus

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Star and Planet Formation

Course
2025-2026

Admission requirements

Bachelor in Astronomy or equivalent in particular Astronomy bachelor course Radiative Processes.

Description

Stars and planets are formed deep inside molecular clouds, but how this actually happens is still being unravelled. This course will provide a broad overview of our current theoretical and observational understanding of the physical processes involved in star- and planet formation. The course consists of two parts. First, the cloud collapse leading to protostars with dense envelopes, circumstellar accretion disks and outflows is discussed. Second, the evolution of protoplanetary disks and the scenarios for the formation of giant and terrestrial planets are presented. Kuiper Belt Objects, comets and meteorites each tell their own story about the physical processes that took place in our own early Solar System. In contrast, exo-planetary systems show us how other protoplanetary systems evolved differently than our own. We will discuss recent observational work with ALMA and VLT, past and future missions to comets and asteroids, and exciting first results from the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope.

The detailed outline is:

  • Dense molecular clouds

  • Cloud collapse and spectral energy distributions

  • Bipolar outflows

  • Pre-main sequence stars

  • High-mass star formation

  • Circumstellar disks

  • Disk evolution and grain growth

  • Formation of planets

  • Kuiper-Belt objects and structure of debris disks

  • Meteorites & primitive solar system material

  • Exoplanets as probes of planet formation processes

Course objectives

The student will gain up-to-date insight into one of the fastest growing research areas in astronomy. The course will provide sufficient background to be able to follow the current literature on star- and planet formation and to do research in this field or in a neighboring field (e.g., star formation in external galaxies or on cosmological scales).

Timetable

See Astronomy master schedule

You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable (login). Any teaching activities that you have successfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.

MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).

For more information, watch the video or go to the 'help-page' in MyTimetable. Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different timetables into one. This video explains how to do this.

Mode of instruction

  • Lectures

  • Exercise classes

Assessment method

  • Written assignment (40%)

  • Essay (50%, the use of ChatGTP is strictly prohibited)

  • Problem sets (10%)

Reading list

Handouts of lecture notes will be made available both on paper and electronically on the course website (see below).

Registration

As a student, you are responsible for registering on time, i.e. 14 days before the start of the course. This can be done via Mystudymap. You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2. Please note: late registration is not possible.

Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from July; registration for courses in the second semester is possible from December. First-year bachelor students are registered for semester 1 by the faculty student administration; they do not have to do this themselves. For more information, see this page.

In addition, it is mandatory for all students, including first-year bachelor students, to register for exams. This can be done up to and including 10 calendar days prior to the exam or up to five calendar days in case of a retake exam. You cannot participate in the exam or retake without a valid registration in My Studymap.

Extensive FAQ's on MyStudymap can be found here.

Contact

Lecturer: Dr. M.K. McClure

Remarks

Soft skills
In this course, students will be trained in the following behaviour-oriented skills:

  • Motivation (commitment, pro-active attitude, initiative)

  • Verbal communication (writing, speaking, listening)

  • Critical thinking (asking questions, check assumptions)

  • Creative thinking (resourcefulness, curiosity, thinking out of the box)

  • Time management (planning, scheduling for deadlines)