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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemAstronomy 1210 Course Particulars
● Course Home Page http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/skrutskie/astr121/
– Three in-class exams – 55% + Final 25%
– Two Labs (Telescope Observing + Your option) - 10%
– In-class “wildcards” - 10%
● Textbook: Cosmic Perspective (6th or 5th) edition
– NO clickers, No supplementary material, just the text
● Exam results and basic course information (and some assignments) will appear on Collab
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemPPT
HTML Lecture Notes, Web Readings, Lectures
Cosmic Perspective – The Textbook
Exam Content
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemAt the End of the Semester...
● A fairly broad and extensive knowledge of the planets and moons in the solar system and how a perspective on all of these objects leads to appreciation for the prospects of life elsewhere in the Solar System and in the Galaxy.
● An ability to keep current – on your own – with events going on in the night sky, long after this course has ended. “Keep looking up....”
● An ability to track the progress of and results from the vast investment in space exploration that we make as a society and appreciate why these investments are more important than just pretty pictures.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemAt the End of the Semester...
● A fairly broad and extensive knowledge of the planets and moons in the solar system and how a perspective on all of these objects leads to appreciation for the prospects of life elsewhere in the Solar System and in the Galaxy.
● An appreciation for how the night sky “works” and an ability to keep current – on your own – with events going on in the night sky long after this course has ended. “Keep looking up....”
● An ability to track the progress of and results from the vast investment in space exploration that we make as a society and appreciate why these investments are more important than just pretty pictures.
5
Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemAt the End of the Semester...
● A fairly broad and extensive knowledge of the planets and moons in the solar system and how a perspective on all of these objects leads to appreciation for the prospects of life elsewhere in the Solar System and in the Galaxy.
● An appreciation for how the night sky “works” and an ability to keep current – on your own – with events going on in the night sky long after this course has ended. “Keep looking up....”
● An ability to track the progress of and results from the vast investment in space exploration that we make as a society and appreciate why these investments are more important than just pretty pictures and scientific results.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemA Brief Warning
● Yes, this course is a 1000-level “introductory” course, however...
– The “1000” is an indicator that the course has no prerequisites, not that it is “easy”
– The information content is dense
– Astronomy is simply applied physics – be prepared for some math and conceptual physics.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
1972
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
Mercury
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
After a 7-year journey MESSENGER dropped into orbit on March 18, 2011!
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemAstronomy 121 circa 2006 -
Not Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
Saturn
Cassini Spacecraft Orbital Insertion: June 2004
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar SystemAstronomy 121 circa 2006 -
Not Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
Asteroids and Comets
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
New Horizons Page
Pluto – planet no more...
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
1972
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
ca. 1990
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
● In the past year...
– The Dawn spacecraft dropped into orbit around the asteroid Vesta for a year-long exploration
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
In the past year...
● The Juno mission was launched on its way to orbit Jupiter
● Mars Science Lab was launched and is on its way to Mars
● GRAIL (a lunar gravity mission) launched and just arrived in lunar orbit.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
In the past year...
● The Juno mission was launched on its way to orbit Jupiter
● Mars Science Lab was launched and is on its way to Mars
● GRAIL (a lunar gravity mission) launched and just arrived in lunar orbit.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
In the past year...
● The Juno mission was launched on its way to orbit Jupiter
● Mars Science Lab was launched and is on its way to Mars
● GRAIL (a lunar gravity mission) launched and just arrived in lunar orbit.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
1972
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System● A new perspective on prospects
for life elsewhere
– Life is more tolerant of extreme environments than previously thought.
– DNA analysis suggests life likely originated in volcanic vents.
– Life's prerequisites (especially liquid water) are more prevalent in solar systems.
– Planets share material. Impacts can transport life naturally from one world to another increasing the odds of survival.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System● A new perspective on prospects
for life elsewhere
– Life is more tolerant of extreme environments than previously thought.
– DNA analysis suggests life likely originated in volcanic vents.
– Life's prerequisites (especially liquid water) are more prevalent in solar systems.
– Planets share material. Impacts can transport life naturally from one world to another increasing the odds of survival.
35
Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System● A new perspective on prospects
for life elsewhere
– Life is more tolerant of extreme environments than previously thought.
– DNA analysis suggests life likely originated in volcanic vents.
– Life's prerequisites (especially liquid water) are more prevalent in solar systems.
– Planets share material. Impacts can transport life naturally from one world to another increasing the odds of survival.
36
Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System● A new perspective on prospects
for life elsewhere
– Life is more tolerant of extreme environments than previously thought.
– DNA analysis suggests life likely originated in volcanic vents.
– Life's prerequisites (especially liquid water) are more prevalent in solar systems.
– Planets share material. Impacts can transport life naturally from one world to another increasing the odds of survival.
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
● Hundreds of planets have been found around other stars.
– It took until 1995 to find the first one.
http://www.planetary.org/blog/
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Astronomy 1210 – circa 2012
NOT Your Grandma's Solar System
● Hundreds of planets have been found around other stars.
– It took until 1995 to find the first one.
The techniques applied to date find “big” planets, but today we are finding earth-sized planets and developing the technology to determine if they are earth-like.
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