Ay 124:  Sylabus as perceived by SGD, Winter 1992.
         This assumes 18 lectures of 1.5 hours each.

1.  Overview.  Basic Galactic structure.  Stellar populations.  Distance 
    measurements in the Galaxy.

2.  Stellar populations: kinematics, metallicity, ages.  Formation of our 
    Galaxy: ELBS and Searle-Zinn pictures, modern views.

3.  Global distribution of the ISM in the Galaxy.  Interstellar extinction.  
    Opacity of galaxies.

4.  Galactic structure from star counts.  Bahcall-Soneira and other models.  
    The thick disk.  The global structural parameters of the Galaxy.

5.  Stellar kinematics: Solar motion, LSR, UVW components, dependence on the 
    stellar type and age.  Spitzer-Schwarzschild mechanism.  Wielen's models.

6.  Rotation of the Galaxy: rot. curve, Oort's constants.  Mass distribution 
    in the Galaxy.  Vertical motions, K(z), Oort's limit, disk dark matter.

7.  Stellar luminosity and mass functions.  Brown dwarfs.  History of star 
    formation in the Galaxy.  Bimodal star formation.
    
8.  The Galactic center.  The Bulge and its stellar population.  History 
    of the chemical enrichment in the Galaxy, the G-dwarf problem and 
    its possible solutions; infall, etc.

9.  Spiral structure: density wave theory, other mechanisms.  Instabilities:
    bars and warps.  Galactic encounters, tidal friction, and mergers.

10. Elements of stellar dynamics.  Time scales (crossing, relaxation,
    evolution).  Basic eqs. (Liouville, Boltzmann, Fokker-Planck, Vlasov).  
    Jeans' thm.  Integrals of motion and the third integral in our Galaxy.

11. Velocity anisotropy; shapes of elliptical galaxies.  Types of orbits.  
    Schwarzschild-type models.  Violent relaxation and its products.

12. Structure and dynamics of star clusters.  Michie-King models.  Core 
    collapse and recovery.  The role of binaries, and evidence for binaries
    in globular clusters.

13. Globular clusters: their uses, global properties, and evolution.  Tidal 
    shocks, and the dispersal and evaporation of star clusters.
    Properties of galactic nuclei.

14. Classification of galaxies.  The Hubble sequence, its meaning, and 
    origins.  Variation of properties along the Hubble seq.

15. Basic properties of galaxies: structure, kinematics.  Luminosity function
    of galaxies.  Rotation curves, x-ray gas, and other evidence for dark 
    halos in galaxies and clusters.  

16. Galaxy families; dwarfs vs. giants.  Galaxy manifolds, correlations, and 
    scaling laws (Scale-Form Plane, Fundamental Plane, Tully-Fisher, etc.).  
    Distance-indicator relations and their origins.

17. Age determinations of star clusters and stellar systems.  Population 
    synthesis models.  Star formation histories and the spectral evolution 
    of galaxies.

18. Dynamical evolution of galaxies in different environments.  Mergers and
    starbursts, IRAS galaxies.  Brightest cluster members.  Ram-pressure
    stripping.  Morphology-environment relations.