McCrady, Nathan T.

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2016-2020 Fall 9-1-2016 ASTR 351.01: Planetary Science Nathan T. McCrady University of Montana, Missoula, nate.mccrady@umontana.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi2016-2020 Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation McCrady, Nathan T., "ASTR 351.01: Planetary Science" (2016). University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2016-2020. 3. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi2016-2020/3 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2016-2020 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Astronomy 351: Planetary ScienceUniversity of Montana, Fall 2016 MWF 10:00 – 10:50 am, CHCB 231 Course Number 74858 Professor Nate McCradyemail: nate.mccrady@umontana.eduOffice: 122 CH Clapp BuildingOffice Hours: MWF 11am – noon, Th 1 – 2pm, and by appointmentCourse website: Available via UMOnline/Moodle (umonline.umt.edu)Course DescriptionIn the past decade, planetary science has expanded beyond its traditional status as a subfield ofastronomy. Technological advances in remote sensing, a growing fleet of space probes, dedicated observatories, super-high resolution adaptive optics imaging, and increased computing power have opened a huge number of new avenues of study on the nature and evolution of planetary systems. Thetremendous increase in raw data and means of study has made planetary science an interdisciplinary field that draws upon astronomy, physics, geosciences and chemistry. This course will present a contemporaryperspective of planetary systems – both our own solar system and the growing number of detected exoplanetary systems. The emphasis will be on application of fundamental physics to topics includingorbital motion, atmospheres, interiors, and planet formation theory. Course ObjectivesMy goals in this course are to…1. Provide a survey of the interdisciplinary field of planetary science.2. Apply fundamental physics to interpret observations of planets.3. Develop the theory of planet formation based on observational evidence.4. Introduce students to exoplanet science.Reading MaterialsThe field of planetary science is rapidly changing, and texts more than a few years old are nowsignificantly dated. There is no assigned textbook for this course – instead we will rely on recent journalarticles to provide scientific background and motivation. These materials are available on the coursewebsite through UMOnline/Moodle. If you would like to purchase an optional textbook to supplement thecourse materials, I recommend Fundamental Planetary Science, by Lissauer and de Pater (2013).Expectations of the ProfessorThis upper-division course is intended for physics majors with a concentration in astrophysics, thoughothers with appropriate preparation are of course welcome. I expect that you will have completed thedesignated pre-requisite courses: Physics 215 (physics with calculus) and Math 171 (Calculus I). You should also be comfortable working with logarithms, scientific notation and the Greek alphabet!Time in the classroom is an essential part of this course, and it will be to your benefit to attend lectures.Exams will be based on material presented in class and reading assignments. I expect students to read thematerial in advance of the class on a topic, and to be prepared to discuss the material. Readings fromjournal articles will be accompanied by a short list of questions. We will discuss the reading, and you will turn in the assignment during class. Expect to have two reading assignments and one problem set to turnin each week. Late reading assignments will not receive credit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This course is a collaborative effort – please ask questions, offer your ideas and be prepared to participatein the discussion. Written work submitted in this course must be expressed in your own words. I specifically encourage students to work together, but each student must write up their own response to  problems and prepare their own computer plots. This step is essential to your learning – writing up the answer to a question requires you to understand the conclusion of your study group, whereas transcription of the work of another student does not. When in doubt, please ask me what is acceptable.Pedagogical Philosophy of the ProfessorMy primary goal in teaching upper-division majors is to help you develop physical intuition and apply principles of fundamental physics learned in introductory coursework. This class in particular is anadvanced course in planetary science, an interdisciplinary field of applied physics and geosciences. Aswith any applied field, there is a large amount of vocabulary specific to the discipline. This course willhelp develop your fluency in the language of planetary science.Research in how people learn indicates that the knowledge of an expert in a topic is organized aroundcore concepts. In order to help you develop expertise in planetary science, I have organized this course around several core concepts. These are outlined on the class schedule in this syllabus. Each concept isassociated with a number of specific learning goals, a complete list of which I will provide for your use asa study aid. Each learning goal is stated from the student’s perspective. If you can achieve these specificgoals, you will succeed in this course – and be well on your way towards expertise in planetary science!Grading PolicyThis course will be graded on the University’s traditional letter grade system. Your grade will be based onreading assignments (15% total), weekly homework sets (35% total), three midterm exams (10% each),and a cumulative final exam (20%). I have not determined in advance how many As, Bs, etc will beassigned – I’m happy to give every student an A if they demonstrate mastery of the material. You are  most definitely NOT competing with each other for grades! Do work together  – you will learn a  significant amount from your peers. Along the way I will provide regular updates regarding your grade inthe course to avoid any surprises.Homework problems will be graded on a four-point scale as follows:4: a good effort with correct results and reasoning3: a good effort with minor conceptual or math errors2: a fair effort with modest conceptual errors or a good effort with serious conceptual errors1: a very poor effort0: no effortA good effort involves at least some English language explanation and use of appropriate diagrams along with any calculations. I expect you to recognize an implausible result if you get one. Homework and  reading assignment responses must be legible! If your first attempt is messy, use it as a draft to rewrite afinal version for submission. If I can’t read it easily, you’ll get no credit!Midterm exams take place during regular class time on the scheduled days. If you cannot be present, tellme before the exam day and we can discuss arrangements. For well-documented compulsory absences, wewill arrange a time for you to take the exam early. Homework must be turned in by 5pm on the due date.Except in the case of prior permission from me, late homework will be docked 20% per  weekday. 2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Course ScheduleDate Topic ReadingGRAVITY AND ORBITSM Aug 29 Overview of our solar systemW Aug 31 Kepler’s laws and orbital motion My Solar SystemF Sept 2 Newtonian gravitation and the Virial Theorem Osserman (2001)M Sept 5 Labor DayW Sept 7 Orbital resonances Minton (2009)F Sept 9 Tidal forces Miller (2009)SOLAR HEATINGM Sept 12 Energy transportW Sept 14 Thermal radiation and the Planck function Pierrehumbert (2011)F Sept 16 Planetary energy balance Pierrehumbert (2011)PLANETARY ATMOSPHERESM Sept 19 Hydrostatic equilibriumW Sept 21 Thermal structure Patzold (2007)F Sept 23 Winds and escape Birner (2014)M Sept 26 Atmospheric composition and cloudsW Sept 28 Comparative planetology: atmosphere origin and evolution Hunten (1993)F Sept 30 Midterm 1PLANETARY INTERIORS & SURFACESM Oct 3 Morphology, bulk density, rocks & iceW Oct 5 Interior of Earth: composition & structure Wood (2011)F Oct 7 Internal heat sources Brandon (2011)M Oct 10 Comparative planetology: interiors and differentiation Buffet (2013)W Oct 12 Magnetic fields and the solar windF Oct 14 Impact cratering Kyte (2012)SMALL BODIESM Oct 17 Meteorites Levi (2011)W Oct 19 Radiometric dating Kita (2005)F Oct 21 Midterm 2M Oct 24 Minor planets: asteroidsW Oct 26 Minor planets: Trans-Neptunian objects Soter (2007)F Oct 28 Comets: size, structure and composition Hand (2015)M Oct 31 Comets: orbits and origins A’Hearn (2006)W Nov 2 Small bodies: clues to solar system formation Brown (2007)PLANET FORMATIONF Nov 4 Star formation overview3                                                                                                                                                                   MWFNov 7Nov 9Nov 11Disks: circumstellar and protoplanetaryPlanetesimals and differentiationVeterans DayTsiganis (2015)Canup (2004)M Nov 14 Midterm 3EXOPLANETSWFNov 16Nov 18Detection: radial velocity methodRV method: biases and resultsLunine (2009)MWFNov 21Nov 23Nov 25Detection: transit methodThanksgiving breakThanksgiving breakLunine (2009)MWFNov 28Nov 30Dec 2Detection: direct imaging and microlensingKepler missionObserved planetary systems: orbits, massesMarois (2008)Clery (2016)Howard (2013)MWFDec 5Dec 7Dec 9Hot Jupiters and planet migrationExoplanetary atmospheresHabitable planetsHecht (2016)Seager (2013)M Dec 12 Astrobiology Seager (2015)Tu Dec 20 Final Exam, 8:00 – 10:00amAdditional ReadingPlanetary science draws from astronomy, physics, geosciences, atmospheric sciences and chemistry. The field has become increasingly interdisciplinary in recent years, and newer textsreflect this change. The books below have been used to prepare lectures and course material.Planetary Sciences, 2nd Ed., I. dePater and J. Lissauer, 2010Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey, 1st Ed., J. Wallace and P. Hobbs, 1977Physical Processes in the Solar System, J. Landstreet, 2003Introduction to Planetary Science: The Geological Perspective, G.Faure and T. Mensing, 2007The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics, C. Fowler, 2005Exoplanets, S. Seager (ed.), 2010Transiting Exoplanets, C. Haswell, 20104 

ASTR 351.01: Planetary Science

https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=syllabi2016-2020

ASTR 351.01: Planetary Science

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Montana