Astronomy 2140 - Planets and The Solar System

Why are there seasons?
Is there water on Mars?
Is Pluto a planet?
Are there planets around other stars?

Astronomy 2140, Planets and the Solar System, is a one-semester course on the physical nature of the Sun and its family of planets, satellites, comets and minor bodies; gravitation, light, and telescopes.  It is a New General Education (GEN) Physical Science course in the Natural Science category. The goals of courses in this category are for students to understand the principles, theories, and methods of modern science, the relationship between science and technology, the implications of scientific discoveries and the potential of science and technology to address problems of the contemporary world.

Astronomy is the oldest science. Since prehistoric times, humans have used the sky for both creative and practical purposes. Even without modern technology, ancient people could infer basic properties of the Earth – such as its shape and size – and could develop models explaining what we see in the sky. This enterprise continues into the present day. We study the planets in our solar system with a range of tools and have launched numerous satellites to study them. We are also now firmly in the era of exoplanet studies and can place our Solar System in a broader context.

In this course, we begin by studying how, over the course of millennia, humans inferred that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. We then answer fundamental questions about the planets in our own solar system: how did they form, and what were they like in the past? Why are the terrestrial planets so different from one another? Why do we have giant planets with many moons in the outer solar system? How does our system compare with others?

This course covers three primary topics:

  • The emergence of the heliocentric model of the Solar System
  • The origins, properties and evolution of our Solar System
  • Planets around other stars

This course begins with a brief introduction to practical astronomy and ends with a discussion of whether we are alone in the Universe.

Course Topics

The course will cover the following topics. The week-by-week breakdown is approximate.

Introduction: Motions in the Sky

  • Week 1 What people in the distant past could measure and how they interpreted it. The size & shape of the Earth. Viewing the sky from Earth and constellations. Reading: Empires of Time.
  • Week 2 Daily, monthly, and annual motions; calendars and navigation. Planetarium field trip. Homework#1
  • Week 3 The Zodiac and seasons; motions & phases of the Moon. Solar & lunar eclipses. Quiz 1.

From Geocentric to Heliocentric: The Birth of Modern Astronomy and Physics

  • Week 4. Motions of the Planets. From Geocentric to Heliocentric; Ptolemy’s Model; Copernicus; Planetarium field trip. Homework#2. Reading: Coming of Age in the Milky Way.
  • Week 5. Tycho, & the Copernican Revolution. Kepler’s Laws and the Scale of the Universe. Homework#3. Reading: Coming of Age in the Milky Way.
  • Week 6. Galileo, Newton’s Laws of Gravity & Motion, and the birth of physics. Quiz 2.

Understanding the Solar System

  • Week 7. The properties of light, blackbody radiation, and the temperature of the Earth. Overview of Solar System formation. Homework#4. Reading: OpenStax Astronomy.
  • Week 8. The properties, origin, and evolution of the terrestrial planets. Field trip to Orton Geological Museum.
  • Week 9. The stable, runaway, and failed greenhouse effects and atmospheric evolution; the habitability of Mars. Homework#5. Reading: OpenStax Astronomy.
  • Week 10. The outer solar system. Giant planets and their moons. Tides & tidal locking; resonances; the habitability of Europa, Enceladus, & Titan. Quiz 3.
  • Week 11. Minor Bodies in the Solar System: asteroids and comets. The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

Other Worlds

  • Week 12. The discovery of exoplanets; their properties and demographics. The exoplanet menagerie: Super-Earths, mini-Neptunes, hot and warm Jupiters. Homework#6. Reading: The Planet Factory. Planetarium field trip.
  • Week 13. New insights into Solar System formation & evolution: migration and scattering. Current frontiers in exoplanet research. Quiz 4.
  • Week 14. Are we alone? The search for biosignatures and the Fermi Paradox.

Learning Objectives (GEN)

General Education Learning Goals & Outcomes

Goals: Successful students will:

  1. Successful students will analyze an important topic or idea at a more advanced and in-depth level than in the Foundations component. [Note: In this context, "advanced" refers to courses that are e.g., synthetic, reply on research or cutting-edge findings, or deeply engage with the subject matter, among other possibilities.]
  2. Successful students will integrate approaches to the theme by making connections to out-of-classroom experiences with academic knowledge or across disciplines and/or to work they have done in previous classes and that they anticipate doing in future.
  3. Successful students will appreciate the time depth of the origins and evolution of natural systems, life, humanity, or human culture, and the factors that have shaped them over time.
  4. Successful students will understand the origins and evolution of natural systems, life, humanity, or human culture, and the factors that have shaped them over time.

Expected Learning Outcomes, Origins & Evolution Theme

Successful students will be able to:

  • 1.1. Engage in critical and logical thinking about the topic or idea of the theme.
  • 1.2. Engage in an advanced, in-depth, scholarly exploration of the topic or idea of the theme.
  • 2.1. Identify, describe, and synthesize approaches or experiences as they apply to the theme.
  • 2.2. Demonstrate a developing sense of self as a learner through reflection, self-assessment, and creative work, building on prior experiences to respond to new and challenging contexts.
  • 3.1. Illustrate their knowledge of the time depth of the universe, physical systems, life on Earth, humanity, or human culture by providing examples or models.
  • 3.2. Explain scientific methods used to reconstruct the history of the universe, physical systems, life on Earth, humanity, or human culture and specify their domains of validity.
  • 3.3. Engage with current controversies and problems related to origins and evolution questions.
  • 4.1. Describe their knowledge of how the universe, physical systems, life on Earth, humanity, or human culture have evolved over time.
  • 4.2. Summarize current theories of the origins and evolution of the universe, physical systems, life on Earth, humanity, or human culture.

Learning Objectives – GE Legacy (GEL) Course

General Education Learning Goals & Outcomes

Students taking the course for the Legacy GE (GEL) will have the following goals and expected learning outcomes.

Goals: Successful students will:

  1. Successful students will engage in theoretical and empirical study within the natural sciences while gaining an appreciation of the modern principles, theories, methods, and modes of inquiry used generally across the natural sciences.
  2. Successful students will discern the relationship between the theoretical and applied sciences while appreciating the implications of scientific discoveries and the potential impacts of science and technology.

Expected Learning Outcomes, Origins & Evolution Theme

Successful students will be able to:

  • 1.1. Explain basic facts, principles, theories, and methods of modern natural sciences, and describe and analyze the process of scientific inquiry.
  • 1.2. Identify how key events in the development of science contribute to the ongoing and changing nature of scientific knowledge and methods.
  • 1.3. Employ the processes of science through exploration, discovery, and collaboration to interact directly with the natural world when feasible, using appropriate tools, models, and analysis of data.
  • 2.1. Analyze the inter-dependence and potential impacts of scientific and technological developments.
  • 2.2. Evaluate social and ethical implications of natural scientific discoveries.
  • 2.3. Critically evaluate and responsibly use information from the natural sciences.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for this course are completion of the Natural Science GE Foundation and math at the level of Math 1050 or higher. The math in this course will not go beyond simple algebra, but there will be equations and geometrical or mathematical reasoning in some lectures and assignments. The math itself will not be difficult, but the concepts will be challenging, and translating concepts into equations and back is one of the major things you will learn during the course. The GE foundation pre-requisite is waived for students taking this course to satisfy the legacy GEL requirement (formerly Astronomy 1141). However, students should be aware that the material will be presented at a higher level than foundations courses, and they should consult with their advisor and/or the course instructor to ensure that they have adequate preparation for the course.