Professor:
Arlin Crotts
astro.columbia.edu
Syllabus:
Title for each date refers to the lecture topic. Page listings e.g., "pp. 1-26" refers to readings to be completed by the next lecture. "HW" or "Q" notation refers to a Homework Set or Quiz to be distributed on that day in class. Every quiz will be done during that class; homework sets will be due later (on the day specified on the assignment handout).| Sep. 9 | Course Organization; Quick Tour of the Solar System | HW.1 |
| Sep. 14 | Quick Tour of the Solar System, Part 2 (pp. 1-26) | Q.0 |
| Sep. 16* | How Small We Are (pp. 27-57) | . |
| Sep. 21 | Changes in the Sky (pp. 58-70) | . |
| Sep. 23 | First Steps Outward - Ancient Astronomy (pp. 70-91) | . |
| Sep. 28 | Copernicus & The Original Revolution (pp. 92-119) | HW.2 |
| Sep. 30 | Find Yourself! Time & Celestial Coordinates (pp. 120-134) | . |
| Oct. 5 | Moving Experience (pp. 134-148) | . |
| Oct. 7 | Matters of Gravity (pp. 149-157) | Q.1 |
| Oct. 12** | Light Issues (pp. 157-179) | HW.3 |
| Oct. 14 | The Nature of Stuff, Near & Far (pp. 180-207) | . |
| Oct. 19 | Getting A Better Look - Instrumentation (pp. 208-226) | . |
| Oct. 21 | MIDTERM EXAM: You'll do fine! | . |
| Oct. 26 | Planets: Getting to Know the Neighbors (pp. 226-233) | . |
| Oct. 28 | Other Worlds, Intrepid Robots (pp. 234-254) | HW.4 |
| Nov. 2 | ELECTION DAY HOLIDAY | . |
| Nov. 4 | How It Came to Be: Solar System Formation (pp. 255-271) | . |
| Nov. 9 | Inside Their Worlds: Planetary Geology (pp. 271-282) | . |
| Nov. 11 | Rocky Worlds: Moon, Mercury, Venus & Mars (pp. 283-294) | . |
| Nov. 16 | Special World: Earth (pp. 295-323) | Q.2 |
| Nov. 18 | Can You Breathe? - Rocky Planets' Atmospheres (pp. 324-336) | . |
| Nov. 23 | But For How Long? - Earth's Atmosphere (pp. 337-349) | . |
| Nov. 25 | THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY | . |
| Nov. 30 | Atmospheres Gone Wild! - Gas Giants (pp. 350-367) | . |
| Dec. 2 | Satellite Worlds (pp. 368-393) | . |
| Dec. 7 | Little Things That Matter: Asteroids & Comets (pp. 394-423) | . |
| Dec. 9 | Distant Systems, Distant Worlds (pp. 732-761) | . |
| Dec. 14 | Are We Alone? - Extraterrestrial Life | . |
| Dec. 23? | Tentative FINAL EXAMINATION date (1:10-4:00pm) | |
| * | Sep. 18 is last free class drop date | |
| ** | Oct. 13 is last class drop date |
Assignments:
Homework Sets can be retrieved by clicking on the relevant highlighted entry in the Syllabus Table. All homework solution sets (posted when appropriate) can be found by going to the Solutions page.
Department of Astronomy home page.
Columbia University home page.
Last updated: September 5, 2009.