PrintAbout Lesson 2
Like many students, you may have come into a course on astronomy thinking that we would spend an entire semester on night sky observations. What we really want to study, though, is astrophysics—we want to understand how those objects that you can observe behave and why they behave the way they do. Traditionally, this is taught from a historical perspective. We will see how over long periods of time we went from making observations of the objects in the sky to the first understanding of those objects.
In this lesson, we are going to begin studying the fundamental physics that is the foundation of astronomy; for now, we will focus on the orbits of the planets around the Sun and the force of gravity. The story involves many of the most famous scientists from throughout history: Aristotle, Ptolemy, Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, and some famous astronomers that you may not be as familiar with—Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. The story of how our understanding of the solar system and the Earth’s place in it evolved is an excellent example of the process of science and how accurate observations can force us to change some of our most fundamental theories about the universe.
What will we learn in Lesson 2?
By the end of Lesson 2, you should be able to:
- interpret the observational evidence for a heliocentric Solar System;
- quantitatively compare and contrast the shape of the planetary orbits and the relationships between their distances from the Sun and their orbital periods;
- explain how an orbit is a balance between the force of gravity and the tangential motion of an object;
- describe how the orbital properties of an object can be used to determine the mass of the system.
What is due for Lesson 2?
Lesson 2 will take us one week to complete. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates.
There are a number of required activities in this lesson. The following table provides an overview of those activities that must be submitted for Lesson 2.
| Requirement | Submitting Your Work |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2 Quiz | Your score on this Canvas quiz will count towards your overall quiz average. |
| Lesson 2 Practice Math Problems | There is a second quiz for this lesson in the Lesson 2 Module in Canvas. This one is all short math problems. You will be graded only on effort on this quiz, that is you will be graded for taking it and working on the problems, but not on your answers. |
| Lab 1 | During Lesson 2, you should begin taking data for the "Moons of Jupiter" lab you will complete at the end of Lesson 3. You do not need to submit anything this week. |
Questions?
If you have any questions, please post them to the General Questions and Discussion forum (not email). I will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.