Astronomy 161 - Introduction to Solar System Astronomy - Autumn 2007 episodes:

• November 14, 2007Lecture 37: The Gas Giants - Jupiter and Saturn

  The Gas Giants Jupiter and Saturn are the largest planets in the Solar

  System. Internally they are deep, heavy Hydrogen/Helium atmospheres on

  top of dense rock/ice cores without solid surfaces. What we see in our

  telescopes are just the tops of the clouds. This lecture describes the

  basic properties of the planets: their composition, atmospheres,

  weather, and internal structures. Recorded 2007 Nov 14 in 1000

  McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• November 13, 2007Lecture 36: Worlds in Comparison - The Terrestrial Planets

  Having completed our tour of the Terrestrial Planets, we want to step

  back and compare their properties. In particular, we will wi review the

  processes that drive the evolution of their surfaces, their interiors,

  and their atmospheres. Recorded 2007 Nov 13 in 1000 McPherson Lab on

  the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• November 09, 2007Lecture 35: The Deserts of Mars

  Mars is a cold desert planet with a thin, dry carbon-dioxide atmosphere.

  The geology of Mars, however, shows signs of an active past, with

  hot-spot volcanism, and tantalizing signs of ancient water flows. While

  a cold, dead desert planet today, Mars' past may have been warmer and

  wetter, with liquid water during the first third of its history. This

  lecture reviews the properties of Mars, and describes the evidence for

  its active past. Recorded 2007 Nov 9 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the

  Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• November 08, 2007Lecture 34: Venus Unveiled

  Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is perpetually veiled behind

  opaque clouds of sulfuric acid droplets atop a hot, heavy, carbon

  dioxide atmosphere. In size and apparent composition, however, it is a

  near twin-sister of the Earth. Why is it do different? In this lecture

  I review the basic properties of Venus, and examine the similarties and

  differences with the Earth. Recorded 2007 Nov 8 in 1000 McPherson Lab on

  the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• November 07, 2007Lecture 33: Battered Mercury

  Mercury, innermost of the planets, is a hot, dead world that has been

  heavily battered by impacts. In this lecture I review the properties of

  Mercury, its orbit, rotation, surface, and interior structure. Recorded

  2007 Nov 7 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio

  State University.

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• November 06, 2007Lecture 32: The Origin of the Solar System

  How did the Solar System form? In this lecture I review the clues for

  the formation of the solar system in the present-day dynamics (orbital

  and rotation motions) and compositions of the planets and small bodies.

  I then describe the standard accretion model for solar system formation,

  whereby grains condense out of the primordial solar nebula, grains

  aggregate by collisions into planetesimals, then gravity begins to work

  and planetesimals grow into protoplanets. What kind of planet grows

  depends on where the protoplanets form within the primordial solar

  nebula: close to the Sun only rocky planets form, beyond the Frost Line

  ices and volatiles can condense out allowing the growth of the gas and

  ice giants. The whole process took about 100 million years, and we as

  we explore the solar system in subsequent lectures, we will look for

  traces of this process on the various worlds we visit. Recorded 2007

  Nov 6 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State

  University.

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• November 05, 2007Lecture 31: The Family of the Sun

  Welcome to the Solar System! We begin our exploration of the Solar

  System with an overview of the planets, moons, and small bodies that

  make up our home system. In this lecture I'll introduce many of the

  themes that will encounter many times as we go through our detailed look

  at the Solar System in the coming weeks. Recorded 2007 Nov 5 in 1000

  McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• November 01, 2007Lecture 30: The Moon

  What physical processes have shaped the Moon? In this lecture, I

  describe the surface features of the Moon (the Maria and Highlands), how

  crater density tells us the relative ages of terrains, and what we have

  learned about Moon rocks returned by astronauts and robotic probes. I

  will also discuss what is known about the interior of the Moon, and

  review what we know about lunar history and formation. Like the Earth,

  the Moon gives us a useful point of comparison with bodies elsewhere in

  the Solar System. Recorded 2007 Nov 1 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the

  Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• October 31, 2007Lecture 29: The Earth's Atmosphere

  What is the composition and structure of the Earth's atmosphere? Why is

  it as warm as it is, and how did it form? Today I will describe the

  composition and structure of the atmosphere, the Greenhouse Effect, the

  Primordial Atmosphere, and Atmospheric Evolution. The Earth's

  atmosphere is a complex, dynamic, and evolving system, and we will use

  it as a point of comparison when we begin to examine other planetary

  atmospheres in future lectures. Recorded 2007 Oct 31 in 1000 McPherson

  Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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• October 30, 2007Lecture 28: Inside the Earth

  What is the interior structure of the Earth? We will start our

  exploration of the Solar System with our home planet Earth. This

  lecture discusses the interior structure of the Earth, introducing the

  idea of differentiation, how geologists map the interior of the Earth

  using seismic waves, and the origin of the Earth's magnetic field. I

  describe the basic properties of the crust of the Earth, its division

  into rigid tectonic plates, and describe how plate motions driven by

  convection in the upper mantle have shaped the visible surface of our

  planet over its dynamic history. Recorded 2007 Oct 30 in 1000 McPherson

  Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

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