TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: Astronomy 161 - Introduction to Solar System Astronomy

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47 episodes
2006 to 2009

Collection: Physics, Math, and Astronomy

Description (podcaster-provided):

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

This podcast is an audio archive of live introductory astronomy lectures for non-science majors at The Ohio State University, taught by Professor Richard Pogge. Across the series, the content builds a foundation for understanding the sky and the solar system using basic measurement, geometry, and physics, then applies those tools to explain what observers see and what scientists infer.

Early material establishes the “language” of astronomy: scientific notation, metric units, and distance scales such as the astronomical unit and the light-year. The lectures then connect everyday observations of the night sky to spherical geometry and coordinate systems, explaining constellations, how locations are mapped on Earth and on the celestial sphere, and why the sky appears to move. The Sun’s annual path and Earth’s axial tilt are used to account for seasons and long-term effects such as precession. The Moon’s motion is treated in detail, including phases, eclipses, and the timing cycles that relate to calendar and civil timekeeping.

A major thread is the historical and scientific development of models of planetary motion, moving from ancient Greek and Roman geocentric systems through Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. These topics introduce the shift from descriptive models to physical laws, including Newton’s laws of motion, universal gravitation, and how orbital mechanics and centers of mass explain planetary and satellite motion. Gravity’s broader consequences—such as tides, tidal locking, and the long-term evolution of the Earth–Moon system—are also covered, along with physical demonstrations of Earth’s rotation and revolution.

The podcast also develops observational tools and underlying physics: the nature of light, brightness and Doppler shifts, atomic structure and radioactivity, blackbody radiation, and spectroscopy as a way to diagnose composition and temperature. Telescopes and observing facilities are discussed as core instruments of modern astronomy.

The latter portion surveys solar-system bodies comparatively, starting with Earth (age, interior, plate tectonics, atmosphere) and the Moon, then moving through the terrestrial planets, the gas and ice giants, moons, rings, asteroids, comets, and Kuiper Belt objects, including debate over planet definitions and dwarf planets. The series concludes by extending the discussion to planets around other stars and the techniques used to detect them.