Physics 360: Astrophysics (Planets section)
Spring 2005

Professor: Julie Rathbun
Office: Duke 111
ext. 2927
E-mail: Julie_Rathbun@redlands.edu

Office Hours: T Th 2:30-3:30
Appointments and drop-ins are welcome, check my schedule to see when I'm available.

Syllabus

Class presentations

Homework (Due at beginning of class unless otherwise noted)

Assignment #4 - Due 2/17 1 pm

1. 6.3 (Becky & Dustin skip)
2. 6.7
3. 6.8
4. 6.12 a only (Becky & Dustin skip)
5. 6.16 (Becky & Dustin c and d only)
6. 6.19 Assume the first jolt is from a P wave and the horizontal motion from an S wave and skip part a (Becky & Dustin skip entire question)
7. 6.23 (Becky & Dustin Skip)
8. 6.24
9. Explain accretional heating.
10. What heat source dominates on Jupiter? On Earth? On Io?
11. Is there any chance Tethys is tidally heated? Explain.

Paper Draft - Due 2/14

Assignment #3 - Due 2/8 1 pm Redos due 2/11

1. Why are feldspars most commonly found in the earth's crust while most of the pyrite is in the interior?
2. Where can the most primitive rocks in the solar system be found?
3. Which of the three types of rock would you be most surprised to find on Io? Explain.
4. Can the same volcano erupt a basaltic lava one year and andesitc later? Can the same volcano produce both granite and basalt? Explain.
5. 5.5E
6. 5.6E
7. 5.10E
8. 5.18E
9. What evidence is there for a past global liquid magma ocean on the moon?
10. In one paragraph, briefly describe the geology of the Galilean satellites and account for any differences seen.
11. Pick a Cassini image of one of Saturn's moons. Compare the image to one of the same object in the textbook and the description it has of the object.
12. Pick an image of one of the moons of Neptune or Uranus and describe what you see in terms of surface geological processes and rocks that may be there.

Annotated Bibliography - Due 2/4

Assignment #2 - Due 1/25 1 pm Redos due 2/1 1 pm

1. Estimate the skin depth for diurnal variations on Mercury.
2. Estimate the depth to which frost penetrates in the ground at a latitude where the annual surface temperatures vary between -5 and 25 ºC. Assume that the water content of the ground is sufficiently small so that the latent heat can be ignored on freezing and thawing. Assume kd for the soil is 0.8 mm2 s-1.
3. One theory for the origin of intra-plate volcanism is mantle plumes. How long would a mantle plume of diameter 1000 km take to rise to the surface of the earth from the base of the mantle (see Chapter 6), if we assume the coefficient of thermal expansion is 2.4e-5 1/K, the temperature of the plume is 2500 K, the background temperature is 2000 K, the density at this temperature is 2900 kg/m3, and the viscosity is 1e20 Pa s.
4. An astronomer measured the brightness of Jupiter at 17.6 terahertz to be 9.2e12 Jy (Actually, no one would use Jansky's at this frequency, but I wanted to make you do an extra conversion). What is the brightness temperature? What is the peak frequency for this temperature? What brightness do you expect to measure at this frequency?
5. 3.3c
6. 3.5
7. 3.11
8. Look up each planet's maximum and minimum surface temperature. Compare to the numbers you found in 3.11a. How do you interpret these results?
9. On a slowly rotating body, which area would be warmer at local midnight, area A with a higher thermal inertia or area B with a lower thermal inertia? Which area would be warmer at noon? Assume both areas are at the same latitude and there is no internal heating.

Paper Summary - Due 1/19

Assignment #1 - Due 1/14 Redos due 1/21

1. In what ways does the sun dominate the solar system? In what ways do the planets dominate the solar system?
2. Pick 3 of the items in the list of planetary properties (p. 5). Describe how you would measure these properties.
3. Which planet is in the most eccentric orbit? Answer with the planet's symbol.
4. Which is in the most inclined orbit? Answer with the planet's symbol.
5. Which planet is the densest?
6. Would any planets float in water?
7. Which planet has the highest gravity?
8. What is the largest satellite in the solar system?
9. Are any satellites in a near polar orbit? Which?
10. Are any satellites co-orbital? Which?
11. Derive Kepler's 3rd law from basic physical laws.
12. Problem 1.1E
13. Problem 1.2E a & b

Lots of material on this page is in PDF format. If your computer does not already have it, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software) to view that content.

Updated 1/19/04