Astro 2202 Spring 2012

Astro 2202:
Our Home in the Solar System
Spring 2012

Monday/Wednesday 2:55-4:10pm
105 Space Sciences
Cornell University

Instructor:
Prof. Joe Veverka
312 Space Sciences
255-3507
Office Hours: M/W 1:00-2:00pm
veverka_at_astro.cornell.edu

TA:
Michael Lam
511 Space Sciences
Office Hours: T/F 2:00-3:30pm
mlam_at_astro.cornell.edu

Week	Class	Date	Topic (Click Links for PDFs)	Reading	Writing
			Unit 1: The Hazard From Space?
1	1	M Jan. 23	Introduction to Astro 2202		Assignment 1
	2	W Jan. 25	Killer Asteroids and Comets
2	3	M Jan. 30	All About Asteroids
	4	W Feb. 1	Missions to Asteroids
3	5	M Feb. 6	All About Comets
	6	W Feb. 8	Missions to Comets		Assignment 2
4	7	M Feb. 13	How Dangerous Are Comets and Asteroids?
	8	W Feb. 15	Class Discussion, etc.	Suggested Reading
			Unit 2: Climate Change on Earth and Elsewhere
5	9	M Feb. 20	Climate Change: Facts and Hype
	10	W Feb. 22	Earth's Atmosphere Through Time
6	11	M Feb. 27	Atmospheres of Earth, Mars, and Venus: Why So Different?
	12	W Feb. 29	Is the Sun a Stable Heat Source?
7	13	M Mar. 5	Ice Ages: Is the Next One Coming?
	14	W Mar. 7	Global Warming: What Should We Do? What Can We Do?
8	15	M Mar. 12	Class Presentations		Assignment 3
			Unit 3: Mars: Was It Ever Like Earth?
	16	W Mar. 14	Mars: An Introduction
		M Mar. 19	SPRING BREAK
		W Mar. 21	SPRING BREAK
10	17	M Mar. 26	Did It Ever Rain on Mars?
	18	W Mar. 28	Water on Mars: Where Is It?
11	19	M Apr. 2	Life on Mars?
	20	W Apr. 4	Exploring Mars: The Future
12	21	M Apr. 9	Class Presentations		Assignment 4
			Unit 4: Planets Around Other Stars
	22	W Apr. 11	Planets Around Other Stars?		Unit 4 Presentations
13	23	M Apr. 16	Detecting Exoplanets
	24	W Apr. 18	Earth-like Planets
14	25	M Apr. 23	How Typical Is Our Solar System?
	26	W Apr. 25	Life on Exoplanets?
15	27	M Apr. 30	Class Presentations I
	28	W May 2	Class Presentations II