Science and the history of science. Birth of science, steps of scientific studies, philosophy of science. The relation between Astronomy and the other basic sciences. Stages of development of Astronomy during the prehistoric ages, antique age, Islamic age, Renaissance and afterwards. Theoretical and observational studies on obtaining parameters (brightness, position, distance, size, etc.) related to astronomical objects. Findings in the modern era. Turkish Astronomy in the Ottoman and Republican eras.

Definitions, diurnal motion, observable motions of the Sun, Moon and planets. Kepler's laws, explanation of the observable motions of the planets. Spherical coordinate systems, horizon, hour, equator, ecliptic and galaxy coordinate system. Conditions affecting coordinate systems, atmospheric refraction, parallax, aberration, precession and nutation. Definitions of time, day, month, year and calendars. Earth's shape, dimension, mass, structure, magnetic field, atmosphere, age and motions. Observational evidence of the orbital motion of the Earth. The Moon's shape, dimension, mass, structure, parallax, motions, and tide. The Sun's shape, dimension, parallax, motions, structure and atmosphere. Solar and Lunar eclipses, ecliptic limits, repetition and number of eclipses. General characteristics of planets, their orbits, distances, periods, masses and radii.

Spectroscopy, spectrograph, fundamentals of spectral analysis, blackbody radiation laws, line series, hydrogen spectrum, Bohr atomic model. Stars, their distances, luminosities and spectra. Spectral classification, Boltzmann and Saha's laws, temperatures of stars, Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram, motion of stars, self-motion, Doppler shift and vertical velocity. Star clusters, open and globular clusters. Variable stars, pulsating stars, period-luminosity correlation, exploding variable stars. The evolution of the stars. Geometry, motions and differential rotation of the Milky Way galaxy. Nebulae, interstellar absorption.

Perception of distance in the universe. Theories of the formation of the solar system. The process of bombardment period of planetary surfaces during initial formation. The internal structures, surface features, and atmospheres of the eight major planets in our system and our natural satellite the Moon. The magnetic fields observed in these objects and the features of the magnetosphere they create. The greenhouse effect seen on Earth-like planets. Moons of giant planets and their characteristics. Glacial satellites and their characteristics. Minor planets, comets, meteorites, shooting stars, interplanetary medium, Oort cloud and Kuiper belt. Other stars that have planets.

The basic unit of the galaxies: Stars, starlight, stellar spectra, stellar evolution, binary stars, photometry of stars. Our Milky Way Galaxy, its structure, kinematics and coordinate system. Other Galaxies, galaxy types and observational features. Diffuse matter (gas, dust, radiation) and dark matter. Galaxy groups, clusters and superclusters. Hubble's Law and distance scale. Large-scale distribution of the matter in the universe.

Laws of electromagnetic radiation, reflection and refraction. Spherical surfaces. Thin lenses, lens formulas, spherical mirrors, image formation and mirror formulas. Image errors, spherical aberration, astigmatism, field curvature, etc. in lenses and mirrors. Telescopes, their types, resolution, aperture and effective transmission, limit brightness, telescope mounts. Magnifiers and magnification of the telescope. Spectrographs, their types, angular and linear dispersion. Detectors, spectral sensitivity, quantum efficiency, eye, photographic plate, photomultiplier and CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). Photoelectric light measurement.

Nature of stars, atom and spectrum, spectral classification, M type stars, K type stars, Sun and G type stars, F type stars, A type stars, B type stars, O type stars, other classifications , HR diagram.

Planetary systems, exoplanets, exoplanet search techniques, features of exoplanets, formation of planets, proplanetary disks, giant planets, terrestrial planets, brown dwarfs, Super Earths, dynamics of planets, habitable zone, research for intelligent life.

Newton’s laws of motion, uniform linear motion, motion under gravitational potential, simple harmonic motion, two-body problem, Kepler's Laws, Kepler orbits, Kepler orbital elements, rotating reference frames, centripetal acceleration, Coriolis force, Roche radius, three-body problem, Jacobi integral, Lagrange points, zero-velocity surfaces.