Saharan dust storms raise dust that is carried in the upper atmosphere across the Atlantic Ocean. That dust can land as far west as the Caribbean and the Americas. This dust can carry potentially hazardous bacteria and fungi.

Saharan dust storms raise dust that is carried in the upper atmosphere across the Atlantic Ocean. That dust can land as far west as the Caribbean and the Americas. This dust can carry potentially hazardous bacteria and fungi.

Size and time scales. Historical astronomy. Astronomical instrumentation. Stars: spectra and classification. Stellar structure equations and survey of stellar evolution. Stellar oscillations. Degenerate and collapsed stars; radio pulsars. Interacting binary systems; accretion disks, x-ray sources. Gravitational lenses; dark matter. Interstellar medium: HII regions, supernova remnants, molecular clouds, dust; radiative transfer; Jeans' mass; star formation. High-energy astrophysics: Compton scattering, bremsstrahlung, synchrotron radiation, cosmic rays. Galactic stellar distributions and populations; Oort constants; Oort limit; and globular clusters.

A large dust storm develops over China on April 6 and 7, 2001. This animation shows the dust moving over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, and Canada, settling over the United States.

A major dust storm occurred in April 2001 over parts of China and Mongolia. Dust from this storm was transported all the way to the coast of the United States. Although dust from the Sahara Desert is routinely transported across the Atlantic to the east coast of the United States, Asian dust rarely makes the distance across the Pacific to the west coast. These airborne microscopic dust and smoke particles, or aerosols, were measured by the TOMS instrument on the Earth Probe satellite. For governments struggling to meet national air quality standards, knowing more about the sources and movement of pollution across national borders has become an important issue.

A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6 and 7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and the United States.

A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.

This poster shows images of comets Hale-Bopp and Shoemaker-Levy 9. The accompanying text describes possible source regions for comets in our solar system, the behavior of comets as they approach the Sun, their possible role in the evolution of Earth, and significant dates in the study of comets.

Dust storms in Asia, catches a ride with the gulf stream and heads towards the United States.

includes photos, a teachers guide, and other resources for learning about the largest migration in American history. This migration occurred in the 1930s when poor soil conservation practices and extreme weather in the Great Plains exacerbated the existing misery of the Great Depression.

In this activity, students will capture and examine the particles to gain an appreciation of how much dust, pollen and other particulate matter is present in the air around them. Students will place "pollution detectors" at various locations to determine which places have a lot of particles in the air and which places do not have as many. Quantifying and describing these particles is a first step towards engineering methods of removing contaminants from the air.

Quantitative introduction to physics of the solar system, stars, interstellar medium, the Galaxy, and Universe, as determined from a variety of astronomical observations and models. Topics: planets, planet formation; stars, the Sun, "normal" stars, star formation; stellar evolution, supernovae, compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), plusars, binary X-ray sources; star clusters, globular and open clusters; interstellar medium, gas, dust, magnetic fields, cosmic rays; distance ladder; galaxies, normal and active galaxies, jets; gravitational lensing; large scaling structure; Newtonian cosmology, dynamical expansion and thermal history of the Universe; cosmic microwave background radiation; big-bang nucleosynthesis. No prior knowledge of astronomy necessary. Not usable as a restricted elective by physics majors.

This course includes Quantitative introduction to physics of the solar system, stars, interstellar medium, the Galaxy, and Universe, as determined from a variety of astronomical observations and models. Topics: planets, planet formation; stars, the Sun, "normal" stars, star formation; stellar evolution, supernovae, compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), plusars, binary X-ray sources; star clusters, globular and open clusters; interstellar medium, gas, dust, magnetic fields, cosmic rays; distance ladder; galaxies, normal and active galaxies, jets; gravitational lensing; large scaling structure; Newtonian cosmology, dynamical expansion and thermal history of the Universe; cosmic microwave background radiation; big-bang nucleosynthesis. No prior knowledge of astronomy necessary. Not usable as a restricted elective by physics majors.

Zoom down to a Libyan dust storm, from a SeaWiFS image taken August 23, 2001.

Zooming down to North Africa to view a large dust storm, 2000-07-18

Once again, SeaWiFS captures another dust storm. Zooming down to the Nile river and a large dust storm on 2001-04-18.

Taking a look at two separate SeaWiFS datasets, 2000-07-18 and 2001-04-18.

Dust storms are an every day occurrence in Saudi Arabia. This storm is of an unusual size.

Applications of physics (Newtonian, statistical, and quantum mechanics) to fundamental processes that occur in celestial objects. Includes main-sequence stars, collapsed stars (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), pulsars, supernovae, the interstellar medium, galaxies, and as time permits, active galaxies, quasars, and cosmology. Observational data discussed. No prior knowledge of astronomy is required.