This course made it possible to understand the advanced science about black holes without performing mathematical calculations. This was incredible for me. I have a background in chemistry, physics and astronomy, but no desire to do the advanced mathematics. I also liked the way science fiction such as Interstellar were explained and compared to actual facts. I was thrilled to understand the production of the strange picture of Gargantua in Interstellar. I also liked the fact that cutting edge astronomy was portrayed. one of the teachers said that she hoped that intermediate black holes would be observed soon. I checked the internet and it came true about 2 years after she predicted it. It was a difficult course, but I determined to finish it as I have always had a love for astronomy from my earliest years. Thank you.

This is an outstanding course. Now after knowing more about our stars and galaxy and black holes, when I look up in the night sky, I think about the process that might be going on in the star's core whose light might be reaching my eyes after A thousand years or might be million years or that star might be in a binary system with other star or lurking around a Stellar Mass Black hole.

With this course I explore more about the power of the universe and how massive or lighter A star or Black Hole could be.

Instructions given by the professors in this course is really amazing, They have explained this course in easiest way possible, which helped me understand the basic of Black Holes, Stars and much more.

Highly recommend this course for Astronomy Lovers.

Thank you

Thank you so much this was ‘so fun’ as my adult children used to say in their childhood. You are all such creative and engaging teachers besides of course being some of our very best and brightest minds. The only Black Hole is the one where we stop trying to learn.

Singularity

Unconscious density of mind

Limitations transcended.

Of my former unknowing

Crossed the event horizon.

Stretched its particles.

Like a strand of spaghetti

Beyond physical limitations

Tidal wave of energy

Dragging my former

Framework of ignorance

Energizing my thoughts

Inflating the senses.

Warping and inspiring

New thought processes

About space and time

Allowing the light

To illuminate and accumulate

Information trapped within

Yet paradox overcome.

I radiate like Hawking.

Although dimmer by sum.

This is an eye-opening course. It tackles complex physics around Black Holes but does it in an approachable way. You get a very good understanding of what Black Holes are, how they are created, how they are detected, how they affect their surroundings and the rest of the universe, and the latest research into black holes.

The lectures are well-presented and include a lot of helpful graphics, animations and explanations. The presenters are obviously enthusiastic about the material and their enthusiasm makes the course fascinating.

The assignments (all of them are multiple-choice questions) are challenging, but doable.

All in all, a great and enjoyable course.

I was very pleased with the presentations and how much I learned in this course. I have two suggestions:

First, please add a RESUME button at the top of the page that comes up first when I click on the link to the course instead of making me scroll down to the Week I am currently studying and finding the Resume button there.

More inportantly, it would help a lot if, once I took and passed the test, that you then take me to the questions I answered incorrectly and attach relevant text so that I learn what I had not understood or remembered. I learn from my mistakes and I assume I'm not alone.

This courses earned a 5 start rating. I learned a tremendous amount about Black Holes that I did not know. The instructors made difficult material easier to understand. It definitely requires tim, however, you will learn alot and it makes it easier to understand once you go through it. I do wish there was a physical textbook to go with the course. I like having physical books with my course, however, that's the only thing I wish the course had. If you are interested in learning about Black Holes, and without it getting too technical, I would recommend this course.

I am a postgraduate student pursuing masters in Physics. I really enjoyed this course and it also refreshed the old and basic concepts to me. Lately, I had lost my passion towards the subject but completing this course has reignited my passion towards astrophysics. If the University of Alberta is reading this I would really like to hear back from you and I would like to know about how to pursue a research/PhD n astrophysics. If given the chance, I would also like to work with your amazing staff. Thank you so much. This was an amazing journey.

Un excelente curso. Un curso muy actualizado con recientes descubrimientos, pero que explica muy bien los principios físicos involucrados con la formación y desarrollo de los agujeros negros. Una excelente combinación de exposiciones de 4 excelentes profesores que exponen muy bien los principios. Un curso que trasmite lo que conocemos pero también lo que desconocemos de los agujeros negros, explica muy bien como los científicos desarrollan teorías y las pruebas por medio de la observación rigurosa. Felicitaciones.

Learned a lot about black holes which weren't even mentioned in my astronomy books when I first started being interested in astronomy when I was a boy as my dad (a former RAF navigator taught me to find my way round the sky) Interestingly enough the clip of the train demonstrating the Doppler effect was shot at Brandon - one of his "targets" during his training a Rivers Manitoba in 1942!

A great course which really stimulated the old grey cells and as far as I can say to be highly recommended!

John H

One of the most excellent courses I've ever experienced, created by passionate subject matter specialists. Good language (clear, precise, adequate pace) is used by the lecturers and the visual material and transcripts are good. Good intuitions are taught for fundamentally complex concepts. The quizzes for each module are on the right level and there are no peer reviews forcing students to wait unreasonably long before they can continue. Recommended to everyone with an interest in the subject.

Very interesting course. As I started working as an electrical engineer in an observatory developing the front end stage for a receiver for radio astronomy, I started to have many questions about the nature of the observations that are studied in the facility. This course helped me to have many of the answers I was looking for and explained the objectives of the international collaborations between other observatories I've read in many documents. Thank you for such a rich course.

This course is exceptional and was so much more than I expected.

The depth to which we go on the subject, the wealth of material, the presentation, the fun, the extremely likable and amazing teachers - all make this course an incredible experience.

In all fairness, the course is too low-priced for its value, as so much thought, effort and time went into creating it.

University of Alberta really does create absolute best courses. Highly recommend this and other courses by UofA.

I am 14 years old. This course is the bestttt!! I love how the teachers discuss the fundamentals and the basic concepts of the course before they dive into the topic. Right now I am totally loving this course. I recommend this course to anyone who is interested in astronomy and astrophysics. You don’t even need to have a lot of pre requisite knowledge for this. You can directly start it. The professors are really good at explaining the concept. This. Course. Is. Amazing.

It's a very iteresting course, systematic, cosiquent, comprehensive! I knew some about black holes, but this course filled in my mind the gaps in this topic. And also it directed me to deep into some specific areas touching these interesting astrophysical objects. I highly appreciate the people who worked on this! I like this course and will suggest it to my pupils from my course on astophysics in our technopark and also to my friends - amateur astronomers. Thank you!

ESTA FUE UNA EXPERIENCIA EXCEPSIONAL. GREAT TEACHERS, GREAT PROGRAM. I REALY ENJOY IT VERY MUCH.

THE QUESTION IS: POR QUE TUVE QUE REPETIR UNA PARTE IMPORTANTE DEL PROGRAMA QUE YA HABIA CURSADO Y APROBADO EN TIEMPO Y FORMA Y POR ULTIMO, POR QUE MOTIVO NO SE ME ENVIA LA CALIFICACION FINAL.

AS A RETIRED I EARN U$A 110 APROX. MONTLY, THERE IS NO WAY I CAN BUY A CERTIFICATE BUT I WANT MY FINAL CALIFICATION THE WAY I HAVE MIS ANTERIORES ESTUDIOS CON COURSERA. GRACIAS.

Thank you teachers, institution and coursera for providing us such a complicated idea as a piece of cake. I have improved by understanding of black holes by this course. Now I can understand the recent images of black holes with scientific accuracy. A big shout out to all the animators for making this course more interseting. A heartfelt gratitude for all the professors from the University of Alberta and other worldwide universities. Thank you all so much.

Course covers all the bases, both from the very basic notions, with suitable introductory material on things like how one determines the composition of a star from spectra, to the physics that allows one to understand the recent image of a black hole(without this course one might think photographing a black hole to be impossible.We now understand the time dilation effects of approaching a black hole and how one can do so safely.

Fascinating stuff

This course was more in-depth and intellectually stimulating than I anticipated. It gave me an accurate and satisfying understanding of the strange nature of black holes.

I especially appreciated the inclusion of emergent research and findings, including observational evidence as recent as 2020. These inclusions have helped me further appreciate the results of scientific funding and the works of the dedicated work of the astrophysics community.

I am truly delighted for a very high quality course about black holes. No doubt more will rapidly be learned in the near future about them. I would love to come to Alberta and help make the next updated revision with you. University of Alberta has the best quality and most interesting topics. Black holes are amazing and wonderful things to contemplate. Great work by a great team, the Black Holes 101 course makes me want to learn more.

Absolutely a Great Course ! Very detailed and constructed step-by-step teaching allowing easy understanding into the complex subject of Black Holes; teachers and staff put a lot of effort into the preparation and editing of each course. I am definitely looking to taking other courses in Astrophysics from the same team from Alberta !

PS: One small remark: the download of the video transcripts should be directly allowed in Word format.

Great course! Does a good job explaining the current state of our understanding of the most complicated objects in the universe, as well as the challenges and cutting edge technology of modern scientific observations. I've always wanted to learn about black holes and this was a great opportunity to get up to date knowledge from the top experts in the field, presented in an interactive and easily understand way for non-scientists

A very good introduction to difficult subject. The lecturers each explained the principles in easy to understand English together with some humour! The graphics really supported what the lecturers were saying and made the topic easier to understand. The duration of the lectures were fine and tests at the end of lectures really helped to confirm understanding. Overall, very happy with course and the way it was presented.

Wonderful instructors and information! I've always had an interest in Black Holes and space in general. 25+ years out of college and a Law Enforcement career later, and now that my kids are out of high school, I have a little more time to concentrate on these topics again, thank you to all the Astro 101Instructors for helping me get back on my journey through space again! Much Thanks! - Jason Billings, Church Hill TN

I loved this course, and I grew to absolutely adore the instructors. It's readily apparent that they had fun putting it all together. And the production staff! How fun were the animations, graphics, live shots and edits? All the way fun! Thanks everyone! The only problem with this course? Astro 105, 201, 314 and higher level specialities aren't yet available. More U of A Astrophysics courses, please. You guys rock.

I enjoyed this course very much. Good voices, playful explanations, variety in subjects. `From now on I have a different view on Black Holes. I recommend this course to everyone who likes to learn more about the universe on a swinging way. A lot of beautiful pictures and good information about ways: how to research your object. Thanks and love from The Netherlands, Rotterdam