ASTRONOMY 3: Introductory Astronomy: The Solar System

Winter 2009

1. The scales and the appearance of the sky  (1, 2, S1)
                a. The distance scale
                b. Daily motion of the sky: the celestial sphere
		c. Appearance of the sky: seasons on earth, 
		   stars and planets, winter and summer constellations, 
		   southern and northern hemispheres
		d. Phases of the moon, eclipse

2. Brief History of Solar System Exploration: (3)
		a. Eratosthenes measurement of the Earth's radius
		b. Geocentric versus heliocentric model of the solar
		   system: how did they account for the retrograde motion of 
		   the planets? 
		c. Observational tests: parallax and how did Galileo show 
		   Venus goes around the Sun?
		d. Kepler's three law of planetary motion

3. Energy and Motion (4) 
		a. kinetic and potential energy, link between mass and energy
		b. Galileo's concept of momentum
		c. Newton's three laws of motion and the concept of force
		d. Law of universal gravitation.
		e. Acceleration along a curved orbit and angular momentum
		f. Einstein's principles of relativity and equivalence 
		g. curvature of space time

4. Light and telescopes (5,6)
		a. dual nature of light
		b. inverse square law: surface brightness decreases as
		   inverse square of the distance
		c. photons of different wavelength: different type of photons
		d. refractor and reflector telescopes: how is light gathered 
		   in these telescopes
		e. Windows of Earth atmosphere: ability of different types of
		   photons from outer space in reaching the ground
		f. Usefulness of space probes: sharper images, avoid 
		   absorption, probe magnetic field and gravity variations

5. Starlight and Atomic Structure (5)
                a. Temperature and heat
		b. intensity and color of black body radiation
		c. elements: atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons.
		d. absorption and emission lines: atomic transitions
		e. stellar spectra
		f. Doppler effect

6. Overview of the solar system (7)
		a. two classes of planets
		b. dynamical and chemical properties of planets
		c. minor planets: asteroids, KuiperBelt objects, and comets.
		d. a brief tour of individual planets and their distinquishing properties
		e. space exploration and robotic missions

7. Formation of the solar system (8)
                a. The nebula hypothesis
		b. protostellar disks
		c. gross properties of the solar system: terrestrial versus
		   gaseous giant planets, space debris
		d. the age of the solar system: nuclear decay
		e. building of the solid planets: condensation, coagulation,
		   impact, fragmentation
		f. gas accretion onto cores
		g. clearing of debris particles and gas

8. Planetary Geology (9)
                a. Diverse surface of terrestrial planets
                b. Probing planetary interior with seismic (P and S) waves
                c. The core-mantle structure inside the Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and the Moon.
                d. Sources of heat for planetary interiors: accretion, differentiation, radioactive decay.
                e. Heat transfer by convection, conduction, and radiation: cooling and planetary size
                f. cores and magnetic fields.
                g. shaping the surface by impact craters, volcanism, tectonics, erosion.

9.  The Moon amd Mercury (10)
                a. Moon: cratered highlands and dark maria, evidence for lava flow resurface
                b. Crater density and the impact history: intense bombardments during the early epoch 
                c. Moon rock analysis: volcanic basalt in maria, old rocks near the high land
                d. Seismic wave probe: cool interior and difference in the crust thickness 
                e. Origin: co accretion, capture, fission, and giant impact scenarios
                f. Dense impact craters and signs of rapid cooling on Mercury  
                g. Mercury interior: iron core and small magnetic field

10. Venus (10)
                a. radar mapping: comparison of crater density: 500 million years old surface
                b. Volcanoes: common isolated features without organized structures and plates
	        c. domes and coronae, differ from the chain of volcanoes on Earth
                d. Surface features: basic localized tectonism (crustal movement) and active interior

11. Mars (10)
                a. Surface: highland and plane in two different hemispheres, continuous volcanism, local and regional tectonism, 
			volcanism: largest volcanoes in the solar system, thick lithosphere.
                b. Impact craters: old highlands 
                c. Evidence for differentiation: diverse silicon abundance
                d. Polar region: CO2 dry ice and water ice, seasonal variations, wind erosion: sand domes
                e. Past surface and subterranean liquid water: channels, lakes, valleys, mesa, cracks, and sedimentary layer.