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Star and Planet Formation

Vak
2024-2025

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

In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.

Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.

Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.

Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.

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 enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.

In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.

There are two enrolment periods per year:

  • Enrolment for the fall opens in July

  • Enrolment for the spring opens in December

See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.

Note:

  • It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.

  • Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.

  • Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.

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)

Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.