The class will consist of lectures, lots of reading, a paper and a final
Tip for non-astronomers - the major way to find papers in astronomy is the Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html
also useful- GeoRef-
http://previews.georef.org/dbtw-wpd/qbeprev.htm
and INSPEC
http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/i.html
Annual Reviews of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Earth & Planetary Sciences (good reviews)
Protostars and Planets I, II, III,IV and V (very large books published every few years)
Many books in the Arizona series (Comets, Asteroids, Venus -these are similar to Protostars & Planets series) - look in physics lib
Icarus
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Meteoritics and Planetary Science
Bulletin of the American Astron. Soc./DPS abstracts
Lunar and Planetary Sci conference- not a Journal but 2 page abstracts online at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/abstracts.shtml
also- Science, Nature and JGR
The paper should be in the 7-13 page range and focus on a topic related to the origin and early evolution of the solar system. The following list contains suggestions for topics but please feel free to consider other topics as well. If you choose a topic that is drastically different from those in the list please check with me to make sure that it is appropriate for the course. Try to pick a fairly narrow topic so that you can go into it with an appreciable amount of depth. As a suggestion, it is always good to find a recent review or good paper on the subject so you are reasonable up to date. It can also be interesting to chose a topic where there is considerable dissagreement and you can descibe both sides (or more) and then make your own ascessment of the situation.
Suggested topics
Detection of extra-solar planetary systems
Properties of extra-solar planets
Detection of planetary materials around other stars
Properties of observable proto-planetary systems
Accretion disk evolution and processes
Solid planet accretion
Accretion or evolution of gaseous planets
Origin of comets
Origin of asteroids
Satellite formation
Origin of the Moon
Planetary differentiation
Core formation and properties
Magnetic fields in planets or the early solar system
Solar nebula models
Formation and evolution of rings
Evolution of planetary atmospheres
Elemental fractionation in the solar system
Solar system chronology
Pre-solar materials in meteorites
Evidence from meteorites
Biological effects on planetary evolution
Planetary evolution and the origin and survival of life
Oceans
Evolution of the volatile elements
Late heavy bombardment
Early evolution of terrestrial planet
A detailed critique of a paper related to the course