The Great Comet McNaught 2007 ( picture by McNaught)
The Great Comet McNaught 2007 ( picture by McNaught)
COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: -- Don Brownlee, C331 Physics-Astronomy Bldg ("PAB"),
office hours- drop in or by appointment.
phone - 543-8575,
email - brownlee@astro.washington.edu,
Lectures: -- 1:30-2:50 tuesday & thursday in Physics Astronomy Building (PAB- A wing) room A114
Midterm Quiz: Nov 6
Final: Friday Dec 14, 2:30- 4:20
Required text: -- Moons and Planets - Bill Hartmann
GRADING
Grades are based on:
15% homework
35% midterm quiz
50% Final
Homework problems and the solutions will posted on the homepage in pdf format- Acrobat Reader (or other pdf viewer) is needed to view them. You can download Acrobat Reader at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
The grader for the homework is
TOPICS, HOMEWORK & TESTS
We will cover the following set of topics in order. The text (Hartmann) is mostly descriptive and will be used to suppliment the class sessions. The quantitative aspects, the real meat of the class, will be primarily be covered in class and in problem sets. Feel free to study with others but each student will need to fully understand all of the homework problems by the time of the quizes. Feel free to ask for help with the problems. The tests will be based on the class sessions, the homework and reading.
Overview-what the solar system is and how it fits into the Universe
Other solar systems, detection, properties - how diverse are they?
Observations- how information on the solar system and solar systems is obtained
What happened before the Sun and planets formed- formation of the elements; interstellar gas & dust
Orbital motion, n-body & tidal effects, light pressure
Formation of stars & planetary systems
Models of the solar nebula-how planets formed here and elsewhere
Comets, asteroids and meteorites- information on the early solar system
Moons - How our Moon formed and evolved- origin, evolution & diversity of moons
Earth-like planets planets - surfaces, surface processes, interiors & evolution
Atmospheres - origin, composition, processes & evolution
Gas and ice giants
Astrobiology - origin, evolution, survival and transport of life in the Universe- habitable zones
WEBSITES of potential interest to 321 students
Most recent pictures of Mars (Exploratorium)
Interesting daily comments on Mars and more
STARDUST- the comet sample return mission
Mars Global Surveyor
Current High Rise images of Mars
Life and Death of Planet Earth
Interesting Planetary Science info
Links to NASA Discovery Missions
Space weather, current sunspots and predictions of Aurora & asteroid near-misses
The Sun- current and past images from the SOHO mission
Problem Sets (in pdf format)-
Suggested Topics To Study For The Final
Origin of the elements and solar composition
Orbit parameters
Tidal effects
Resonance effects
Velocity in circular orbit
Kepler’s 3rd law
Detection of extrasolar planets and estimates of their masses
Total energy of an orbit
Velocity in elliptical orbit
Escape velocity and impact velocity
Light pressure, Poynting Robertson Drag and the Jarkovsky effect
Temperature of a body illuminated by sunlight
Accretion rate of a growing body + Gravitational focusing effects
Evidence for planet migration
Roche’s limit
Hill radius
Accretion vs gravitational instability
Hydrostatic equilibrium and pressure variation in interior of a body
Pressure variation in a constant temperature atmosphere
Age dating
Impact origin of Moon
Magma ocean
Impact and cratering effects
Composition of atmospheres
Planet surface histories and how they are determined
Astrobiology
