PHYS 480/581: Planetary Astrophysics


Instructor
Prof. Diana Dragomir
Email: dragomir@unm.edu
Office: PAIS 3226

Description of the class

This is an upper undergraduate/graduate PHYS course that will introduce the physics of planetary systems. Because the topic is so large, it will be impossible to cover everything in just one semester. A tentative course schedule is given at the end of this syllabus, but it will almost certainly change and evolve as the course progresses. I intend to interweave the study of our own solar system with the study of exoplanets, since they share a common underlying physics and chemistry. The general topics we will cover are: orbital mechanics from 2-body problem to more complicated cases; energy transport; planetary atmospheres, surfaces and interiors; minor bodies; and planet formation and evolution. If time permits, we may also discuss the emerging star-planet connections that observations of extrasolar systems are hinting at, and/or the topic of life elsewhere.

Syllabus

The detailed syllabus can be found here.

Journal Club Instructions and Schedule 

Proposal Instructions

Homework Assignments:

HW1

HW2

HW3

HW4

HW5

HW6

Tentative Schedule

Date Lecture Notes Reading HW Due
Week 1
8/19-8/23

Introduction; Overview of Solar System and Exoplanets 

PS ch. 12.2; PS ch. 1 
Week 2
8/26-8/30

Two-body problem; Quiz 1 + Two-body problem - Part 2

PS ch. 2.1
Week 3
9/2-9/6

Labor Day Holiday; Three-body problem

PS ch. 2.2 
Week 4
9/9-9/13

Perturbations, stability and chaos + HW1 due; Quiz 2 + Solar System and Exoplanet Orbits, and Tides

PS ch. 2.3 + 2.4 + 2.6

 HW 1 due (9/9)
Week 5
9/16-9/20

JC 1 + Tides II; Energy Balance

PS ch. 3.1
Week 6
9/23-9/27

Quiz 3 + Energy Transport; JC 2 + Energy Transport II

PS ch. 3.2 + 3.3; PS ch. 4.1 + 4.2
Week 7
9/30-10/4

Solar System planetary atmospheres; Quiz 4 + Planetary and Exoplanetary atmospheres

PS ch. 4.3-4.4 + 4.6 + 4.8-4.9; M19 (a cursory reading is sufficient)

 HW 2 due (9/30)
Week 8
10/7-10/11

JC 3 + Planetary and Exoplanetary Atmospheres II; Planetary and Satellite Interiors I

PS ch. 6
Week 9
10/14-10/18

Quiz 5 + Planetary and Satellite Interiors II; JC 4 + Planetary and Satellite Interiors III

PS ch. 6

 HW 3 due (10/14)
Week 10
10/21-10/25

Meteorites; Quiz 6 + Meteorites II

PS ch. 8; PS ch. 9
Week 11
10/28-11/1

JC 5 + Minor planets I; Proposal Review I + Minor planets II

PS ch. 10
Week 12
11/4-11/8

Protoplanetary disks; Quiz 7 + Protoplanetary disks II

PS ch. 13.1-13.4; PS ch. 13.5

 HW 4 due (11/4); Proposal review due (11/6)
Week 13
11/11-11/15

Growth of solid bodies; Guest lecture by Dominic Oddo

FEEPS ch. II and PS ch. 13.5
Week 14
11/18-11/21

JC 7 + Planet formation I; Quiz 8 + Planet formation II

FEEPS ch. III and PS ch. 13.6 - 13.7

 HW 5 due (11/18)
Week 15
11/25-11/29		 Guest lecture by Dr. Zahra Essack; Planet migration, scattering and tidal evolution FEEPS ch. IV and PS ch. 13.8 (for Wednesday)
Week 16
12/2-12/6

JC 8 + Bonus Topic (Magnetic Fields); Proposal Review + Bonus topic (Life)