Courses

Chapter 1: The Solar system and its place in the Universe

• Organization and dimension
• The Milky Way Galaxy
• The expanding universe and the Big Bang

 

Chapter 2: Celestial Mechanics

• Early Astronomy
• Hellenistic Culture
• Renaissance Models

 

Chapter 3: Observing the solar System

• Properties of light
• Spectroscopy 101
• Telescopes

 

Chapter 4: Overall Characteristics of the Solar System.

• The Celestial Sphere
• Overview of the Solar System
• Formation of the Solar System

 

Chapter 5: The Sun

• Overview
• Introduction to the solar wind
• Interaction of solar wind with the planets

 

Chapter 6: Overview of the Terrestrial planets

• Constituents
• Interiors
• Surfaces
• Atmospheres

 

Chapter 7: The Terrestrial Planets

• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• Mars
• The Asteroid Belt

 

Chapter 8: Overview of the Gas Giant Planets

• Physical properties
• Interiors
• Atmospheres

 

Chapter 9: The Jovian Planets and Beyond

• Jupiter and the Galilean satellite system
• Saturn and its system
• Uranus/Neptune and moons
• Dwarf planets, Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites

 

Chapter 10: Life in the Solar system

Required

Universe: Solar System, Roger A. Freedman and William J. Kaufmann II, 38^th edition, W.H. Freeman, 2007.

Other recommended books

An Introduction to the Solar System, Eds. Neil McBride and Iain Gilmour, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Astronomy: The solar system and beyond, Michael A. Seeds and Dana E. Backman, 6^th edition, Brooks/Cole, 2008

The Solar System, Thérèse Encrenaz, Jean-Pierre Bibring, Michel Blanc, 3rd edition, Springer, 2004.

Physics and Chemistry of the Solar System, John S. Lewis, Academic Press, 2^nd edition, 2004.

Planetary Sciences, Imke de Pater and Jack J. Lissauer, Cambridge University Press, 2001.

 

 

Assignments

Assignments will be given periodically. You will usually have a week to complete each of them and submit your paper.

 

Midterm and final exam

The exact date for the midterm exam will be decided during the course; the final exam date is set by the university registrar. The mid term and final exams are without books or notes. Only non-programmable calculator is allowed. Students are expected to learn and know the course material.

 

Term paper and oral presentation

The term paper will be a bibliographical report of about 10 single-spaced pages on a topic related to the atmosphere. It should include an abstract, a table of contents, an introduction and a conclusion as well as a list of references. Acceptable references are scientific articles or review of scientific articles published trough a peer-review process.

 

Here is an interesting guideline for term papers:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/termpapr.htm

Don’t hesitate to use the STFX writing center. It contains many links and tips about essay writing.

http://www.mystfx.ca/resources/writingcentre/

For the bibliography, you can use the StFX library service:

http://library.stfx.ca/help/helpdesk.php

 

Deadline

 

 

Students will have to perform an oral presentation of about 10 minutes in front of the class at the end of the term. The schedule for each student will be decided after the “Topic” deadline.

Depending on weather, a session of telescopic observations will be scheduled during the term. Students will be informed in advance of the date of the event. Observations are an integral part of the course and, therefore, participation is required.