ASTR 202 :: Fall 2007
Exploration of the Solar System
CLASS SCHEDULE
Last change: December 05, 2007
Week Class Date
Topic		 Readings Homework
(PDF files)
01 1 AUG27 Greetings & Course Review  
  
2 AUG29 Our Place in the Universe:
  • An overview of the universe.
  • Our cosmic origin.
  • "Star Stuff"
§1.1
  
3 AUG31 Our Place in the Universe:
 §1.2, 1.3
  
02 NOCLASS: Labor Day
4 SEP05 Our Place in the Universe:
 §1.3, 1.4
 hw01
due: WED 9/12
ak01
ret: WED 9/19
cut: FRI 9/28
5 SEP07 Overview of mathematical skills based on the textbook's Appendix C, and Math Insight boxes in Ch.1

DEADLINE: to add courses on-line without a fee
DEADLINE: to add a course without obtaining instructor's permission
PIN Expiration: The 1st Registration, Add/Drop (RDA) PIN for Fall 2007 expires and online registration is disabled for all undergraduate students at 5:00 p.m.
Appendix C
  
03 6 SEP10 Discovering the Universe:
  • Angular size and distance.
  • Mapping the sky.

PIN Activation: The 2nd Registration, Add/Drop (RDA) PIN for Fall 2007 is activated and online registration is enabled for all undergraduate students at 8:00 a.m.
§2.1,
(part of) §S1.2
  
7 SEP12 Discovering the Universe:
 §2.2, S1.2

Homework hw01 DUE today

 
8 SEP14 Discovering the Universe:
  • The reason for seasons
  • The wobbling top
  • Time keeping
  • The Moon
  • Phases of the Moon (Phases animation)
§2.3,
S1.1, S1.2
 hw02
due: FRI 9/21
ak02
ret: MON 10/1
cut: WED 10/10
04 9 SEP17 Discovering the Universe:
  • Solar and Lunar eclipses
  • Motion of planets
  • Apparent retrograde motion of planets
  • Stellar parallax
§2.3, 2.4
  
10 SEP19 The Science of Astronomy:
  • The ancient roots of Science
  • The Greeks
  • Ptolemy
  • Copernicus
  • Tycho Brahe
  • Kepler, and its 3 laws
§3.1, 3.2, 3.3
  
11 SEP21 The Science of Astronomy:
  • Galileo
  • The scientific method
Making Sense of the Universe

DEADLINE: to complete late registration or add courses
DEADLINE: to drop courses without a fee
DEADLINE: to designate a credit course as "Audit" or vice versa
§4.1

Homework hw02 DUE today

 
05 12 SEP24 Making Sense of the Universe (with Eileen Meyer)
  • Angular momentum
  • Mass and weight
  • Free fall
  • Weightlessness
  • The importance of the reference frame
  • Newton's first law of motion
  • Newton's laws of motion
  • Inertia
§4.2
  
13 SEP26 Making Sense of the Universe (with Eileen Meyer)
  • Conservation of momentum
  • Conservation of angular momentum [Ice skater spin video (@YouTube)]
  • Forms of energy
  • Conservation of energy
  • Units of measure
  • Conversion/exchange of energy
  • Temperature and kinetic energy
§4.3
  
14 SEP28 Making Sense of the Universe
Newtonian Law of Gravitation
  • The Universal Law of Gravitation
  • "Real" potential energy
  • Escape velocity
  • The physics behind Kepler's Laws
  • Generalizing Kepler's Laws
  • Tides
  • Orbital energy
§4.4, 4.5
 hw03
due: FRI 10/5
ak03
ret: WED 10/10
cut: FRI 10/19
06 15 OCT01 Making Sense of the Universe
  • Thermal Energy
  • Mass-energy and creation of matter
§4.3, 4.4, 4.5
  
16 OCT03 Making Sense of the Universe
  • Mass-energy and creation of matter
  • Nuclear fusion
  • Energy conversion efficiency
  • Our body as a chemical reactor
Light and Matter
  • Light is energy
  • Spectrum of light
  • Light and Matter interaction
  • Wave-particle duality
  • Wave properties
  • Photons and Electromagnetic waves
  • Electromagnetic spectrum
  • Photon's energy
§5.1, 5.2
  
17 OCT05 Light and Matter, Structure of Matter
  • Photon's energy
  • Atoms and Molecules
  • Energy levels and quantization
  • The periodic table of the elements
§5.2, 5.3

Homework hw03 DUE today

hw04
due: FRI 10/12

ak04
ret: WED 10/17
cut: FRI 10/26
07 18 OCT08 TEST #1  
  
19 OCT10 Light and Matter §5.3, 5.4
  
20 OCT12 Light and Matter
  • Thin gas
  • Dense gas
  • Thermal spectrum / Thermal radiation
  • Stefan-Boltzmann and Wien Laws
  • Summary of emission/absorption
  • Kirchoff's laws.

DEADLINE: Mid-semester grades for first-year undergraduate students via the on-line grade submission process (in ESTHER) by 5:00 PM
§5.4, 5.5

Homework hw04 DUE today

 
08 NOCLASS: Midterm Recess
21 OCT17 Light and Matter

Telescopes

  • Collecting, focusing, detecting
  • Key features: collecting area, angular resolution
§5.4, 5.5
§6.1, 6.2
 hw05
due: WED 10/24
ak05
ret: MON 10/29
cut: WED 11/07
22 OCT19 Telescopes §6.2 ÷ 6.4
  
09 23 OCT22 Telescopes
  • Radio telescopes
  • Telescope arrays
Our Planetary System
  • Comparative planetology
  • Layout of the Solar system
  • Two types of planets
  • Asteroids and comets
  • Exceptions
§7.1, 7.2
  
24 OCT24 The Formation of the Solar System
  • Features to match
  • The Nebular Theory
  • Two types of planets
  • Condensation, frost line
  • Accretion
§8.1, 8.2, 8.3

Homework hw05 DUE today

hw06
due: WED 10/31

ak06
ret: FRI 11/2
cut: MON 11/12
25 OCT26 The Formation of the Solar System
  • Gas capture
  • Clearing of the nebula
  • Leftovers and exceptions (heavy bombardment)
and a few applets: 		§8.3, 8.4, 8.5
  
10 26 OCT29 The Formation of the Solar System
  • The age of the Solar System
  • Radiometric dating
Planetary Geology
  • Planetary surfaces
  • The interior of terrestrial planets
  • Internal heat (and heat transfer)
§9.1, 9.2
  
27 OCT31 Planetary Geology
  • Heat transfer
  • Magnetic fields
  • Four basic geological processes
    • Impact cratering
    • Volcanism
    • Tectonic
    • Erosion
  • Putting it all together
§9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Homework hw06 DUE today

 
28 NOV02 Planetary Geology
  • The Moon
  • Mercury
  • Mars
  • Earth
    • What makes Earth special?
    • Plate Tectonics
    • Continental drift
    • The two-crust planet
    • Tectonics boundaries
    • Geological feaures of plate tectonics
As to Mars and Venus (§9.4, 9.5) I will go over some of the material, but I will not have time to cover everything. Please read those sections in their entirety as well.

DEADLINE: final in/out decision about the "Observing project"

DEADLINE: to drop courses for all returning undergraduate students with a fee
DEADLINE: to designate a course status to "Pass/Fail" option
PIN Expiration: The 2nd Registration, Add/Drop (RDA) PIN for Fall 2007 expires and online registration is disabled for all undergraduate students at 5:00 p.m.
§9.4, 9.5, 9.6
  
11 29 NOV05 TEST #2  
 hw07
due: MON 11/12
ak07
ret: FRI 11/16
cut: MON 11/26
30 NOV07 Planetary Geology
  • Hot spots
  • Plate tectonics through time
Planetary Atmospheres
  • Atmospheres of terrestrial worlds
  • Atmospheric pressure
  • Greenhouse effect
  • No greenhouse temperature
  • Atmospheric structure
  • Why the sky is bright, blue (or red)
  • Comparison of terrestrial planets atmospheres
§10.1
  
31 NOV09 Planetary Atmospheres
  • Magnetosphere
  • Global wind patterns
  • Coriolis effect
  • Long term climate change
§10.1, 10.2
  
12 32 NOV12 Planetary Atmospheres
  • Gaining and losing an atmosphere
  • Mercury and the Moon
  • Climate history of Mars
  • Climate history of Venus
  • Earth's unique atmosphere.
  • The balance of Nature.
  • Carbon dioxide cycle.

DEADLINE: selection of article for the "web-project"
 §10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6

Homework hw07 DUE today

hw08
due: MON 11/19

ak08
ret: MON 11/26
cut: WED 12/5
33 NOV14 The Sun (with Eileen Meyer)
  • History
  • Hydrostatic equilibrium
  • The structure of the Sun
  • Nuclear fusion and the p-p chain
  • Solar thermostat
  • Energetics of the Sun
 
  
34 NOV16 The Sun (with Eileen Meyer)
  • How the Sun radiates energy
  • The solar spectrum
  • Magnetic field and Sunspots
  • Solar wind, flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)
  • How the Sun affects the Earth
Some neat movies of Sun activity (courtesy of Dr. David Alexander): 		 
  
13 35 NOV19 Planetary Atmospheres
  • Carbon dioxide cycle.
  • Earth's thermostat.
  • Long-term climate changes and stability.
  • Global warming
Outer (Jovian) planets
  • General properties and differences with respect to terrestrial planets
  • Why are they so different?
§10.6, 11.1

Homework hw08 DUE today

hw09
due: WED 11/28

ak09
ret: MON 12/03
cut: MON 12/10
36 NOV21 Outer (Jovian) Planets §11.1
  
NOCLASS: Thanksgiving
14 37 NOV26 Outer (Jovian) Planets
  • Climate, weather
  • Magnetospheres, and aurorae
  • Jovian moons, large and small
  • Ice geology
  • Io, and tidal heating
§11.1, 11.2
  
38 NOV28 Outer (Jovian) Planets §11.2, 11.3

Homework hw09 DUE today

hw10
due: WED 12/5

39 NOV30 Asteroid & Comets
  • Small bodies in the solar system.
  • Asteroid belt, and orbital resonances.
  • Asteroids: size, shape, mass, density, composition.
  • Meteorites: primitive, processed
  • Comets
    • Populations
§12.1, 12.2
  
15 40 DEC03 Asteroid & Comets
  • Comets structure and interaction with the Sun
  • Pluto and Charon
  • Pluto and Kuiper Belt objects
  • Pluto: planet?
    • New IAU definition of planet (and dwarf planet)
  • Cosmic collisions. Shoemaker-Levy 9
  • Meteors and meteor showers
  • Impacts on Earth
    • Mass extinctions
    • Chicxulub crater

DEADLINE: WEB & Observing projects DUE, IN CLASS
 §12.2, 12.3, 12.4
  
41 DEC05 Life on Earth
  • Life on Earth
  • The fossil record
  • A common ancestor
  • From chemistry to biology
  • The life timeline
  • Evolution of life. The Theory of Evolution
  • The rise of Oxygen
  • Explosion of diversity
  • Basic requirements for life
§12.4
§24.1

Homework hw10 DUE today

 
42 DEC07 TEST #3

DEADLINE: drop courses (for Fall 2007 matriculants only). Students must go to the Office of the Registrar by 5:00 p.m.
 
  
ASTR 202 :: Fall 2007 HOME