1. The Solar System: Planets, Satellites and Rings
ASTRONOMY 2212
The Solar System: Planets, Satellites and Rings
Spring 2011
Class Meeting Tuesday & Thursday
11:40 – 12:55
Class Location: Space Sciences Building Room 105
Instructors: Donald Campbell and Peter Gierasch
General: The course is intended primarily for science and engineering students who would like to obtain knowledge of our solar system and an understanding of how it works based on the application of simple physical principles.
Prerequisites: The course assumes that every student has some knowledge of basic physics and mathematics including calculus at the level of Math 111 or at least co-registration in Math 111.
Text: No required text. Lecture notes will be posted on the course web site. Supplementary reading may be recommended at times.
Problem sets: Will be assigned approximately every two weeks.

2. WEB site: The course WEB site can be found at: http://www. astro
The site is password protected and can be accessed by:
user name: student; password: orbit
PDF versions of lecture notes and visuals will be available on this site. Additional material may also be discussed in class.
Course requirements:
Mid-term prelim 20%
Final %
Problem sets 30%
Project %
Office hours: Peter Gierasch Don Campbell
Rm 318 Space Sciences Rm 504 Space Sciences
Tel: ext Tel: ext
Office hours: TBD Office hours: TBD

3. SCHEDULE OF LECTURES
Date Day of Week Topic (reading Lecturer
Jan 25 Tuesday Intro – Geography of Solar system PG
Jan 27 Thursday History, telescopes and spectra PG
Feb 01 Tuesday Orbits DC
Feb 03 Thursday Tides and resonances DC
Feb 08 Tuesday Tides and resonances DC
Feb 10 Thursday Sun as a star PG
Feb 15 Tuesday Sun and Earth PG
Feb 17 Thursday Terrestrial planets- properties DC
Feb 22 Tuesday Moon&Mercury, impacts and dating DC
Feb 24 Thursday Mineralogy & interior structure DC
Mar 01 Tuesday Venus&Earth, atmospheres PG
Mar 03 Thursday Surfaces and interior structures PG
Mar 08 Tuesday Comparative climates PG
Mar 10 Thursday Mars, Interior, surface and atmos. DC
Mar 15 Tuesday Mars, History of water DC
Mar 17 Thursday Prelim
Mar 22 Tuesday SPRING BREAK

4. Mar 24 Thursday SPRING BREAK
Mar 29 Tuesday Outer planets, interior structures PG
Mar 31 Thursday Outer planets, atmospheres PG
Apr 05 Tuesday Outer planet rings PG
Apr 07 Thursday Outer planet satellites PG
Apr 12 Tuesday Small bodies, asteroids & comets PG
Apr 14 Thursday Small bodies, KBOs DC
Apr 19 Tuesday Extra solar planets DC
Apr 21 Thursday Extra solar planets DC
Apr 26 Tuesday Formation of solar systems PG
Apr 28 Thursday Evolution of planetary systems PG
May 03 Tuesday Project reports
May 05 Thursday Project reports
USEFUL WEB SITE
– lots of recent spacecraft and ground-based results. Click on “missions” to get information about past, current and future missions.