---

Astronomy 121 -- Section 3 -- Lecture Notes

---

General Information / Tutorials

• Current Daily Outline - Archive of Daily Outlines
• Course Requirements in Brief (and in detail)
• Course Outline and Schedule
• Scientific Notation
• Important Mathematics for Astronomy 121

Lecture Notes

• Course Introduction
  • Course Introduction - 08/29 (1)
  • Not Your Grandma's Solar System (pdf) - 08/29 (1)
    

  • Approaches to Astronomy - 08/31 (2)
    • Lecture slides (.pdf)

  • A Brief Brief History of the Universe - 09/03 (3)
  • ``Lookback'' Time - 09/03 (3)
    • Lecture slides (.pdf)

  • Astronomy and Human Biases - 09/05 (4)
  • A Scale Model of the Earth/Sun System - 09/05 (4)
  • How Many Grains of Sand on a Beach? -- 09/05 (4)

• The Night Sky
  • Angular Measure and Altitude --- 09/07 (5)
  • The Celestial Sphere --- 09/07 (5/6)
    • Iapetus slides --- 09/10 (6)

  • Constellations --- 09/12 (7)
  • Stars and Star Names --- 09/12 (7)
  • Precession --- 09/12 (7)
    • Iapetus (revealed) slides --- 09/12(7)

  • Equinoxes and Solstices --- 09/14 (8)
  • The Calendar --- 09/14 (8/9)

  • Phases of the Moon --- 09/17 (9)
  • Synodic vs. Sidereal Lunar Month --- 9/17 (9)
  • Sidereal vs. Solar Day --- 09/17 (9)

  • Lunar and Solar Eclipses -- 09/19 (10)
  • Annular vs. Total Eclipses --- 09/19 (10)

  • Planets on the Night Sky --- 09/21 (11)
  • Inferior vs. Superior Planets --- 09/21 (11)
  • Planetary Configurations --- 09/21 (11)

• Orbits
  • Renaissance Astronomy in a Nutshell -- 09/26-28 (12/13)
  • The Scientific Method --- 09/26-28 (12/13)
    • Horoscope quiz results --- 10/01 (14)

  • Newton's Laws and the Law of Universal Gravitation -- 10/01 (14)
  • Orbits --- 10/01 (14)
  • Orbital Equations --- 10/01 (14)

  • Galileo's Experiment on Falling Bodies --- 10/03 (15)
  • Weight, Mass, and Weightlessness --- 10/03 (15)
  • Artificial Satellites --- 10/03 (15)
  • Orbits in Astronomy --- 10/03 (15)

• Light and Telescopes
  • The Nature of Light --- 10/05 (16)
    • The Fundamental Forces --- 10/05 (16)
  • Blackbody Radiation --- 10/05 (16)
    • Temperature and Temperature Scales --- 10/10 (17)
  • Spectral Lines --- 10/10 (17)
    • The Doppler Shift - 10/12 (18)
    • Kirchhoff's Laws --- 10/12 (18)
  • Telescopes, Collecting Light, and Resolving Power --- 10/15 (19)
    • Astronomy from Space pdf, ppt

• Formation of the Solar System
  • An Inventory of the Solar System --- 10/17 (20) - pdf, ppt
    • Jovian vs. Terrestrial Planets --- 10/17 (20)
  • Regularities of the Solar System --- 10/17 (20) - pdf,ppt
  • A Recipe for Constructing Solar Systems --- 10/19 (21) - pdf, ppt
    • Condensation and the Solar Nebula --- 10/19 (21)
    • Are Solar Systems Commonplace? --- 10/19 (21)
    • Evidence for Solar Systems forming Elsewhere --- 10/19 (21)
  • How to find Other Solar Systems --- 10/22 (22) -- ppt, pdf -- take home wildcard
    • Recently Discovered Solar Systems --- 10/22 (22)
    • The Search for Other Earths --- 10/22 (22)
  • Radioactive Dating and the Age of the Solar System --- 10/24 (23)
  • Comets -- 10/29 (24) -- ppt, pdf

• The Terrestrial Planets
  • The Earth's Moon --- 11/02 (26) - ppt, pdf
    • Tides and Leap Seconds --- 10/31 (25)
    • Cratering and Crater Counting --- 11/05 (26)
    • The Future of Lunar Exploration (pdf) -- 11/07 (27)
    • Planetary Density and the Interior of the Earth and Moon --- 11/05 (27)
    • The Formation of the Moon - 11/07 (28)
    • Unique Aspects of the Earth-Moon System --- 11/07 (28)

  • The Earth's Surface --- 11/07 (28)
  • Planetary Atmospheres --- 11/09 (29)
    • The Retention of Atmospheres --- 11/09 (29)
  • The Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans --- 11/09 (29)
  • Catastrophic Impacts and Mass Extinctions --- 11/12 (30) ppt, pdf

• Venus - 11/14 (31)
  • The Greenhouse Effect - 11/14 (31)
  • Radar Mapping - 11/14 (31)

• Mars Exploration --- 11/16 (32)
  • Water on Mars --- 11/26 (33)
  • Meteorites and Life on Mars - 11/26(33) - ppt - pdf
• The Jovian Planets
  • Properties of the Jovian Planets --- 11/28 (34)
    • Jupiter --- 11/28 (34)
      • The Difference Between Jovian Planets and Stars --- 11/28 (34)
      • Thermonuclear Fusion --- 11/28 (34)
  • The Galilean Satellites of Jupiter --- 11/30 (35)
    • Io and Europa: The Role of Tidal Heating --- 11/30 (35)
  • Saturn --- 12/03 (36) - ppt, pdf
    • Saturn's Rings and the Roche Limit --- 12/05 (37)
    • Saturn's Moon Titan --- 12/05 (37)
  • Uranus and Neptune --- 12/05 (37)
    • The Discovery of Neptune and the Scientific Method --- review

• Minor/Dwarf Planets / Asteroids and Comets
  • Pluto -- lecture ppt, lecture pdf -- 12/07 (38)
  • Asteroids --- 12/07 (38)
  • Meteors and Meteorites --- 12/07 (38)
  • Comets --- already covered for Exam 3 not on exam 4.
  • Meteor Showers --- 12/07 (38)