Stars, Planets, Life
In the last thirty years, the study of life beyond our own planet has gone from science fiction to legitimate science. The course will initially focus on how stars form and evolve, starting from the formation of the universe, and continuing to a discussion of stars as both the synthesizers of heavy elements and the central energy source for stellar systems. From there, we will discuss current planetary formation theories, planet detection techniques, and the explosive discovery of planets outside our solar system in the past fifteen years. Finally, we will examine the conditions under which we think life evolves and whether any of the glut of planets we’ve discovered in the last year may support life.
Textbooks: The Cosmic Perspective (7th Edition or 8th Edition) by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider & Voit
Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy (3rd or 4th Edition) by Prather, Slater, Adams, & Brissenden
Slack: We will be using the Bennington Physics Slack Workspace to communicate this term. Please make sure you join the #spring2022-spl channel.
Planet Project Assignment
Planetary Systems Available
The planned schedule for the course is given below. Note that the “Problem Sets” column will be updated with the most recent problem sets as the term goes on.
| Week of | Topic | Reading | Problem Sets |
| February 14 | Foundations / The Early Universe | Ch. 20 | |
| February 21 | Star Formation & Astronomical Measurement | Ch. 16, 14 & 5 | Problem Set 1 |
| February 28 | Measuring Light and the Stars | Ch. 5 & 15 | Problem Set 2 |
| March 7 | Measuring the Stars (No class Thursday) | Ch. 15 | Problem Set 3 |
| March 14 | Stellar Evolution & Star Death | Ch. 17 & 18 | Problem Set 4 |
| March 21 | Star Death & Cosmic Recycling | Ch. 18 & 19 | |
| March 28 | Our Solar System & Tools for Discovery | Ch. 2.4, 3.3, 4.2, 4.5, 5 | Problem Set 5 |
| April 4 | Discovery of Extrasolar Planets (no class Monday) | Ch. 13 | |
| April 11 | Doppler Detection of Planets | Ch. 13 | Problem Set 6 |
| April 18 | Transit Detection of Planets | Ch. 13 | |
| April 25 | The Kepler Revolution (no class Thursday) | Ch. 13 | Problem Set 7 |
| May 2 | Habitability Conditions | Ch. 10 | |
| May 9 | Early Life on Earth & in the Solar System | Ch. 10 & 24 | Problem Set 8 |
| May 16 | The Search for Life in the Universe | Supplementary Reading | |
| May 23 | The Search for Intelligent Life | Supplementary Reading |
