Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Astronomy 161, Introduction to the Solar System, is the first quarter ofThemes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Intro solar-system astronomy lectures • units, astronomical numbers, coordinate systems • Earth–Moon motions, seasons, phases, eclipses • timekeeping, calendars • planetary motion history • Newtonian gravity, orbits, tides • light, atoms, spectroscopy, telescopes • Earth geology/atmosphere • planets, moons, rings, asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt/dwarf planets • exoplanet detectionThis podcast presents live-recorded university lectures from an introductory solar system astronomy course for non–science majors. Across the series, the instructor builds the basic “toolkit” needed to talk about astronomy, including scientific notation and metric units, astronomical distance measures such as the astronomical unit and light-year, and foundational ideas about mass, weight, and measurement.
A major theme is learning to describe the sky as it appears from Earth. Listeners are introduced to constellations and their cultural history, spherical geometry and coordinate systems (latitude/longitude and their celestial analogs), and the daily and yearly motions of the sky driven by Earth’s rotation and orbit. The lectures connect these motions to familiar phenomena such as seasons, lunar phases, eclipses, and the origins of timekeeping, time zones, and calendar systems.
The podcast also traces the historical development of explanations for planetary motion, moving from Greek geocentric and early heliocentric ideas through Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler’s laws, Galileo’s telescopic observations, and Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation. Those physical principles are then applied to orbital mechanics, tides, and observational demonstrations of Earth’s motion.
Later segments introduce how astronomers learn about the universe using light and matter: the properties of light, atomic structure, spectroscopy, and telescope technology. The course then surveys the solar system’s formation and compares worlds, covering Earth’s age, interior, and atmosphere; the Moon; terrestrial planets; gas and ice giants; moons and rings; asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and Kuiper Belt objects, including the planet-definition debate. The series concludes by outlining methods used to detect planets around other stars.
| Episodes: |
|
Welcome to Astronomy 161 2006-Sep-18 |
|
Lecture 2: Astronomical Numbers 2006-Sep-21 |
|
Lecture 3: The Starry Night 2006-Sep-22 |
|
Lecture 4: Measuring the Earth 2006-Sep-25 |
|
Lecture 5: Mapping Earth and Sky 2006-Sep-26 |
|
Lecture 6: Daily and Annual Motions 2006-Sep-27 |
|
Lecture 7: The Four Seasons 2006-Sep-28 |
|
Lecture 8: Phases of the Moon 2006-Sep-29 |
|
Lecture 9: Eclipses of the Sun and Moon 2006-Oct-02 |
|
Lecture 10: Telling Time 2006-Oct-03 |
|
Lecture 11: The Calendar 2006-Oct-04 |
|
Lecture 12: The Wanderers - Planetary Motions 2006-Oct-05 |
|
Lecture 13: Greek Astronomy 2006-Oct-09 |
|
Lecture 14: The Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus 2006-Oct-10 |
|
Lecture 15: The Watershed: Tycho and Kepler 2006-Oct-11 |
|
Lecture 16: Galileo and the Telescope 2006-Oct-12 |
|
Lecture 17: On the Shoulders of Giants: Isaac Newton and the
Laws of Motion 2006-Oct-13 |
|
Lecture 18: The Apple and the Moon - Newtonian Gravity 2006-Oct-16 |
|
Lecture 19: Orbits 2006-Oct-17 |
|
Lecture 20: Tides 2006-Oct-18 |
|
Lecture 21: The Rotation and Revolution of the Earth 2006-Oct-19 |
|
Lecture 22: Light the Messenger 2006-Oct-23 |
|
Lecture 23: Worlds Within: Atoms 2006-Oct-24 |
|
Lecture 24: Matter and Light 2006-Oct-25 |
|
Lecture 25: Measuring Light - Spectroscopy 2006-Oct-26 |
|
Lecture 26: Telescopes 2006-Oct-27 |
|
Lecture 27: Deep Time - The Age of the Earth 2006-Oct-30 |
|
Lecture 28: Inside the Earth 2006-Oct-31 |
|
Lecture 29: The Earth's Atmosphere 2006-Nov-01 |
|
Lecture 30: The Moon 2006-Nov-02 |
|
Lecture 31: The Family of the Sun 2006-Nov-06 |
|
Lecture 32: The Origin of the Solar System 2006-Nov-07 |
|
Lecture 33: Battered Mercury 2006-Nov-08 |
|
Lecture 34: Venus Unveiled 2006-Nov-09 |
|
Lecture 35: The Deserts of Mars 2006-Nov-13 |
|
Lecture 36: Worlds in Comparison - The Terrestrial Planets 2006-Nov-14 |
|
Lecture 37: Jupiter and Saturn 2006-Nov-15 |
|
Lecture 38: Uranus and Neptune 2006-Nov-16 |
|
Lecture 39: The Moons of Jupiter 2006-Nov-20 |
|
Lecture 40: The Saturn System 2006-Nov-21 |
|
Lecture 41: Planetary Rings 2006-Nov-22 |
|
Lecture 42: Asteroids and Meteoroids 2006-Nov-27 |
|
Lecture 43: Icy Worlds of the Outer Solar System 2006-Nov-28 |
|
Lecture 44: Comets 2006-Nov-29 |
|
Lecture 45: Is Pluto a Planet? 2006-Nov-30 |
|
Lecture 46: ExoPlanets - Planets around Other Stars 2006-Dec-01 |
|
Astronomy 141 Podcast Teaser 2009-Dec-06 |