Galaxies and Observational Cosmology

The aim of the course is to provide a comprehensive review of extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, with special emphasis on recent observational discoveries. The properties of different types of galaxies will be discussed and compared in a cosmological context. You will gain an understanding of the galaxies that populate our universe and learn about the current cosmological model which include dark matter and dark energy. The dark energy is a component with negative pressure held responsible for the observed acceleration of the cosmic expansion. Understanding the nature of dark matter and dark energy is one of the greatest challenges of modern cosmology.