Ch 1 : Observing the Night Sky.
The
celestial sphere, angles on the sky, constellations. Greek astronomy,
precession, heliocentric and geocentric models, Ptolemy. Copernicus and
Galileo.
Ch 2 : Planetary Motion and Gravity.
Tycho, Kepler
Newton. Keplers Laws, Newtons Laws,
gravity, orbits.
Ch 3 : Earth, Moon, and Sky.
Coordinates, the seasons,
the day, the year, calendars, phases of the moon, tides, eclipses.
Ch 6 : The Solar System.
Overall properties of solar system.
Origin of Solar system. Extrasolar planets.
Ch 7 : The Earth.
Earth's interior, tectonics, magnetic
field, aurora, atmosphere. Cratering history.
Ch 8 : The Moon & Mercury.
Moon's overall properties,
surface, and origin. Mercury's surface, interior, and rotation.
Ch 9 : Venus & Mars.
Magellan mapping of Venus' surface.
Atmosphere, greenhouse effect. Mars, life ?, seasons, surface, volcanoes,
water, atmosphere.
Ch 10 : The Jovian Planets.
Overall properties :
interior structure, atmospheres, rotation, magnetic fields.
Ch 11 : Moons and Rings.
Abundance of moons. Galilean moons
of Jupiter. Captured moons. Pluto. Ring systems. Roche limit. Reasonant
gaps.
Ch 12 : Asteroids and Comets.
Asteroids, asteroid belt,
reasonance and Kirkwood gaps, Apollo and Trojan asteroids. Comets,
core, tail, evolution.
Ch 13 : Primitive material and the Origin of the Solar System.
Meteors and meteorites. Nebular model for the origin of the solar system.
Explanation of overall solar system properties.
Ch 14 : The Sun's Atmosphere.
The sun as a star. Photosphere,
granulation, chromosphere, corona. Sunspots, sunspot cycle, magnetic
fields, flares, storms.
Epilogue : Life - Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial.
Non-uniqueness
of Earth. Origin of life on earth. Discovery of extrasolar planets.
SETI. The Drake equation. Radio communication.