A Long Question:
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What is the Eggen, Lynden-Bell, & Sandage picture of the formation
of our Galaxy, and what are the more modern developments?  Do a quick, 
back-of-the-envelope estimate of the kinetic and potential energy of 
our Galaxy, and its mass (separately for the disk, bulge, and the
whole).  You can assume a flat rotation curve, and a cutoff at about
30 - 50 kpc.  Then do the equivalent estimate for an average elliptical 
galaxy.  Estimate the free-fall times.  If the binding energy is released 
during a single free-fall time, what luminosity would that give to a 
protogalaxy?  What if it happens on a cluster-crossing time scale?  If 
a half of all baryonic mass is burned in stars in these time intervals, 
how does the resulting nuclear-burning luminosity compares with the 
release of the binding energy?  Can you guess the wavelength region(s) 
in which the energy will be predominantly released (give reasons)?  



Short Questions:
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Define the concept of stellar populations.  What are the relevant
variables? Give a brief quantitative description of the stellar
populations in our Galaxy, and a sketch of our understanding of 
its formation history. 


List at least two types of objects/measurements which can be used 
as "standard candles" in the cosmological tests (e.g., the Hubble
diagram).  List at least two types of objects/measurements which can
be used as "standard yardsticks" in the angular size - redshift test. 
What can go wrong with them?  Mention some specific evolutionary
mechanisms and/or selection effects. 


Estimate luminosity of: a typical normal galaxy; a typical quasar;
an IRAS super-starburst galaxy?


Why some galaxies have disks, and some do not? 


Compare the kinetic energies of stars in a disk galaxy which
correspond to the random and ordered (rotation) motions; compare
that with the ratio of disk scale heights and scale lengths.
What can you say about the importance of mergers for galaxy disks?


Define briefly the following time scales for a stellar system,
and give estimates for an open cluster, a globular cluster, and
an elliptical galaxy:
	(a) crossing time
	(b) relaxation time
	(c) evolutionary time scale
Which dynamical processes are important for the evolution of 
the Galactic disk, open clusters, globular clusters?  Give 
quantitative estimates of the relevant physical quantities.


Define the following:
	- Integrals of motion
	- Jeans' theorem
	- Boltzmann eq.
	- Liouville's eq.
	- Vlasov eq.
	- Fokker-Planck eq.


What is the gravothermal catastrophe (and why)?


What is the core collapse, and why and when does it happen?  
How can it be arrested and reversed?  What are the binary 
formation mechanisms?  Mention at least two relevant astrophysical 
situations in which core collapse plays an important role.