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General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
ASTRD004.
Course Title (CB02)
Solar System Astronomy
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This course analyzes the physical principles, logic, and development of solar system astronomy from ancient times through the present. It also examines earth and sky relationships, exploration of the solar system by spacecraft and earth-based methods, similarities and differences between Earth and other planets, theories of the origin of our planetary system, and properties of other stars' planetary systems. The course includes multimedia planetarium demonstrations.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course meets a general education requirement for °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSU GE, and IGETC, and it meets the °®¶¹´«Ã½ Liberal Arts Degree requirement. It is an introduction to the content, structure, and history of our solar system and their study by means of the scientific method.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
Yes
Foothill Course ID
ASTR F010A

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GBX°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area B - Natural SciencesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGB1CSU GE Area B1 - Physical ScienceApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG5AIGETC Area 5A - Physical ScienceApproved

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
5.0
Maximum Credit Units
5.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours5.010.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
60.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
60.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
120.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
120.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Planetarium demonstrations

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Discussion of assigned reading

Collaborative projects

Assignments

  1. At least two one-hour exams with written and objective questions, which require short essay answers, problem-solving, and interpretive skills.
  2. Two-hour comprehensive final exam.
  3. Individual or group presentation that analyzes a historical astronomical perspective of another culture, such as the Native American, Mayan, Chinese, or Egyptian. Such an analysis must discuss the effect on the daily lives of the peoples involved. Identify and discuss contemporary practical applications, if any.
  4. Individual or group presentation that compares a historical perspective on some aspect of planetary science to a current, different perspective to illustrate that science is a process whose results are open to adjustment. Examples include: Lord Kelvin's proof that earth is very young or Percival Lowell's theories on the habitability of the planets.
  5. Assemble and evaluate a file consisting of ten articles from reputable scientific journals, or newspapers, and astronomical websites on differing topics of astronomically-related environmental importance (such as global warming and climate changes, ozone depletion and other atmospheric chemical changes, results of space missions that concentrate on Earth's characteristics such as weather/atmospheric monitoring systems, etc.). Include a synopsis of each article or web resource, the date and source of the information, and relate it to topics covered in this course.
  6. Collaborative in-class problem-solving exercises, such as the `lecture-tutorial' and `think-pair-share' questions that have been developed and promulgated by the community of astronomy education researchers

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Student responses on one-hour exams will be evaluated by comparison to grading rubrics.
  2. Student responses on two-hour comprehensive final exam will be evaluated by comparison to grading rubrics.
  3. Individual or group presentation that analyzes a historical astronomical perspective of another culture will be evaluated for clarity, accuracy, and correctness of identification of the place of that culture’s perspective in the global development of astronomical ideas.
  4. Individual or group presentation that compares a historical perspective on an aspect of planetary science to a current, different perspective will be evaluated for clarity and accuracy.
  5. Students’ synopses of items in file consisting of ten articles from scientific journals, newspapers, and websites on topics of astronomically-related environmental importance will be evaluated for clarity, accuracy, and their relevance to topics covered in the course.
  6. Student answers to collaborative in-class questions will be collected by means of anonymous student-response systems like `clickers' and `plickers', evaluated for accuracy by comparison to grading rubrics, and used as the basis for in-class discussions during and immediately following the problem-solving sessions.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • Access to the planetarium

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Fraknoi, A., Morrison, D., and Wolff, S.C. (2019) "Astronomy", freely available at https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy, ISBN-13 978-1938168284.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
NASA headquarters: http://www.nasa.gov
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managing center for most U.S. space exploration missions: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
The European Space Agency consortium: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html
IKI, the Russian space administration: http://www.iki.rssi.ru/eng/index.htm
Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): http://global.jaxa.jp
China National Space Administration: http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/index.html
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): https://www.isro.gov.in/
Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System, a comprehensive website for information on planets around other stars, maintained by NASA: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/
SETI Institute, the large and comprehensive website of the nonprofit SETI co-coordinating organization of the same name: https://seti.org/
Alic, M., "Hypatia's Revenge" (The Woman's Press: London, 1986): a history of women in science from antiquity to the late nineteenth century.
Ferris, Timothy, "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" (Morrow: New York, 1988): shows how human ideas of cosmology evolved as we learned more about the cosmos.
Galilei, G., "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1953): examines Galileo's confrontation between the Copernican and Aristotelian cosmologies.
Giere, R.N., "Understanding Scientific Reasoning" (Holt, Reinhart and Winston: New York, 1979): excellent introductory text to scientific reasoning, logic, statistics and decision making. Especially, Chapter 8, "Fallacies of Theory Testing," which outlines some of the major fallacies that contribute to astrology, and the phenomenon of UFOs and being interpreted as visitation by extraterrestrials.
Hadingham, E., "Early Man and the Cosmos" (Walker and Company, 1984): account of early astronomy from an archaeologist's perspective. Particularly good discussion of the cultural context for astronomy.
"Keepers of the Earth: discusses the Native American interaction with the land."
Koestler, A., "The Sleepwalkers" (MacMillan: New York, 1959): influential and controversial history of astronomy, with special emphasis on the Copernican revolution; illustrates Koestler's unconventional views on many of the key players and incidents.
Krupp, Dr. E.C., "Beyond the Blue Horizon": discusses sky mythology by cultural area, including recent work on African mythology.
Journals/Periodicals<br /> Sky & Telescope, website: http://skyandtelescope.com/<br /> Scientific American, website: http://www.scientificamerican.com/<br /> Astronomy, website: http://www.astronomy.com<br /> Mercury, The Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, website: http://www.astrosociety.org
Women in Astronomy: An Introductory Resource Guide, a very large website about women's contributions to astronomy, historical and current, maintained by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astronomy-resource-guides/women-in-astronomy-an-introductory-resource-guide/
Audio-visual and pre-recorded planetarium programs in the Fujitsu Planetarium's collection, DeAnza College.
Debunking astronomical misconceptions such as the "Moon hoax" and egg-balancing at the vernal equinox: Astronomer Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" website, http://www.badastronomy.com/index.html

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Discuss planetary astronomy as a discipline and delineate its historical and global development.
  • Describe motions of the sky and identify which of those were useful in establishing the heliocentric nature of the solar system.
  • Use Newton's laws of motion and gravitation in examining methods for determining planets' masses and distinguishing among possible trajectories for bodies in the solar system.
  • Identify dynamical and structural regularities in the solar system which are not demanded by physical law and assess which of those can reasonably be expected to exist in other planetary systems.
  • Describe the history, goals, and methods of modern planetary exploration.
  • Compare and contrast Earth's characteristics to those of other planets and identify ways in which investigation of other worlds helps us better understand our own.
  • Assess current models of the origin, development, and commonness of planetary systems in light of characteristics of newly-discovered extrasolar systems and evaluate those models' implications concerning the likelihood of extraterrestrial intelligence.

CSLOs

  • Appraise the benefits to society of planetary research and exploration.

  • Compare and contrast the development of planetary systems and of the major panet types, including those factors that have led to Earth's unique characteristics.

  • Evaluate astronomical news items or theories concerning solar system astronomy based upon the scientific method.

Outline

  1. Discuss planetary astronomy as a discipline and delineate its historical and global development.
    1. Compare and contrast practical applications of astronomy in early cultures, including at least three from:
      1. Native American calendar development
      2. Polynesian navigation
      3. Chinese timekeeping and observatories
      4. Large calendrical structures: Anasazi, Stonehenge, Angkor Wat
      5. Other, such as Babylonian celestial measurement and record keeping, and 13th and 15th century astronomical observatories in Persia and Uzbekistan.
    2. Evaluate and interpret theories about and measurement of the "moving stars" in selected early cultures, including Greek and African advances to 1500 AD.
    3. Examine the influence of the European Renaissance and the Copernican Revolution on the development of astronomy and planetary science.
  2. Describe motions of the sky and identify which of those were useful in establishing the heliocentric nature of the solar system.
    1. Examine the apparent motions of the sky
    2. Differentiate the constellations
    3. Examine Earth-Moon relationships, including ocean tides, moon phases, and solar and lunar eclipses
    4. Evaluate and interpret the causes of the seasons
    5. Introduce the apparent (naked-eye) motions of the planets, and compare explanations for retrogradation in heliocentric and geocentric models
  3. Use Newton's laws of motion and gravitation in examining methods for determining planets' masses and distinguishing among possible trajectories for bodies in the solar system.
    1. State and illustrate Newton's laws of motion
    2. State and illustrate Newton's law of gravitation
    3. Explain orbital mechanics and planetary configurations
    4. Calculate planets' masses using space probes or moons as probes of their gravitation
  4. Identify dynamical and structural regularities in the solar system which are not demanded by physical law and assess which of those can reasonably be expected to exist in other planetary systems.
    1. Draw relationships among dynamical characteristics shared by the planets and the sun.
    2. Compare and contrast the prevalence of those regularities in the various satellite systems.
    3. Compare structural similarities and differences among the planets and their satellites and other minor solar system bodies: terrestrial, jovian, Kuiper Belt, and other families.
  5. Describe the history, goals, and methods of modern planetary exploration.
    1. Study the history of modern planetary exploration, including the contributions of men and women from various cultures and analysis of some missions undertaken by:
      1. NASA
      2. Russia and the former USSR
      3. The European Space Agency consortium
      4. Japan
      5. China
      6. India
    2. Identify useful and productive means of planetary exploration which do not involve spacecraft.
      1. Describe some Earth-based infrared, radar, and other sensing and imaging technologies
      2. Identify applications to planetary astronomy of instruments in low Earth orbit
    3. Compare and contrast the economic and scientific merits of earth based sensing, automated spacecraft, and human presence in space for various planetary research goals.
  6. Compare and contrast Earth's characteristics to those of other planets and identify ways in which investigation of other worlds helps us better understand our own.
    1. Analyze the data provided by planetary exploration; i.e., physical characteristics, atmospheres, and land forms (if any) of the major planets, large satellites, asteroids, comet nuclei, and Kuiper Belt objects.
    2. Comparative planetology: Evaluate what the characteristics of other worlds, including geology, potential for biology, and atmospheric characteristics tell us about Earth.
      1. Compare and contrast the greenhouse effect on Venus to the problem of global warming on Earth.
      2. Examine major climate changes on Mars and compare the climate of Antarctica to the climate on Mars.
      3. Analyze the causes of catastrophic impact events and their effect on all solar system bodies.
      4. Examine the relationship between the Jovian planets' atmospheres and weather modeling
      5. Evaluate current results of the search for water, organic compounds, and life on Mars and examine the feasibility of continuing the search.
  7. Assess current models of the origin, development, and commonness of planetary systems in light of characteristics of newly-discovered extrasolar systems and evaluate those models' implications concerning the likelihood of extraterrestrial intelligence.
    1. Compare and analyze global theories of the origin of the solar system and examine phenomena that can be used to test them.
    2. Assess current searches for planets of other stars and interpret their results.
      1. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence
      2. Distinguish some of the major misunderstandings that contribute to astrology and the interpretation of UFOs as "visitations" by extraterrestrials.
    3. Assess future solar changes and debate their ultimate effects on Earth.
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