Lectures will be a combination of Powerpoint presentations and whiteboard derivations. In most cases, Powerpoint slides will be posted here as PDF files after the class.
These summaries and notes are not a substitute for attending lectures!
In-class worksheets can be found on the Assignments page.
Class Notes
Lecture 1 – 8/20/2012 (Course overview, scope of planetary sciences)
Lecture 2 – 8/22/2012 (Solar system survey: terrestrial/minor planets)
Lecture 3 – 8/24/2012 (Solar system survey: Sun, giant planets)
Lecture 4 – 8/27/2012 (Solar system survey: Satellites, rings; observable vs. inferable properties)
Lecture 5 – 8/29/2012 (Ellipses, Kepler’s and Newton’s laws)
Lecture 6 – 8/31/2012 (Bound/unbound orbits, orbital elements, Hohmann transfer)
Lecture 7 – 9/5/2012 (Restricted 3-body problem, Lagrange points)
Lecture 8 – 9/7/2012 (Oberth effect, tadpole/horseshoe orbits, Hill sphere)
Lecture 9 – 9/10/2012 (Perturbation theory, axisymmetric gravity fields, tides)
Lecture 10 – 9/12/2012 (Roche limit, tidal heating, obliquity, dissipative forces)
Lecture 11 – 9/14/2012 (Orbital resonances; blackbody radiation)
Lecture 12 – 9/17/2012 (Integrating Planck’s radiation law, Stefan-Boltzmann law, luminosity, albedo)
Lecture 13 – 9/19/2012 (Phase angle, equilibrium temperature, greenhouse effect)
Lecture 14 – 9/21/2012 (Conduction: Fourier’s law, thermal diffusivity, thermal inertia)
Lecture 15 – 9/24/2012 (Thermal skin depth, intro convection, hydrostatic equilibrium)
Lecture 16 – 9/26/2012 (Convection)
Lecture 17 – 10/1/2012 (Electron energy levels, emission/absorption spectra)
Lecture 18 – 10/3/2012 (Molecular and solid surface spectroscopy)
Lecture 19 – 10/5/2012 (Radiative transfer)
Lecture 20 – 10/8/2012 (Atmospheric structure)
Lecture 21 – 10/10/2012 (Atmospheric composition, spectral line profiles)
Lecture 22 – 10/12/2012 (Cloud formation, atmospheric photochemistry)
Lecture 23 – 10/17/2012 (Ionospheric formation and structure)
Lecture 24 – 10/19/2012 (Intro to magnetospheres)
Lecture 25 – 10/22/2012 (Atmospheric dynamics)
Lecture 26 – 10/24/2012 (Atmospheric formation and escape)
Lecture 27 – 10/26/2012 (Surfaces intro; impact cratering)
Lecture 28 – 10/29/2012 (Impact cratering Part 2)
Lecture 29 – 10/31/2012 (Gravity and planetary surfaces)
Lecture 30 – 11/2/2012 (More mass wasting examples; shear stress and angle of repose)
Lecture 33 – 11/9/2012 (Crater count ages; tectonics)
Lecture 34 – 11/12/2012 (Aeolian and fluvial processes)
Lecture 35 – 11/14/2012 (Fluvial and glacial processes)
Lecture 36 – 11/16/2012 (Glacial processes; planetary bulk densities)
Lecture 37 – 11/19/2012 (Earth’s interior structure; hydrostatic equilibrium)
Lecture 38 – 11/26/2012 (Heat sources, constituent relations, gravity fields, isostasy)
Lecture 39 – 11/28/2012 (Planet formation)
Lecture 40 – 11/28/2012 (Planet migration; moon formation)
Lectures 41-42 – 12/3/2012 and 12/5/2012 (Astrobiology: origins & evolution of life)
Lecture 43 – 12/7/2012 (Planetary Astrobiology)