| Date | Subject | Reading |
|---|
| Sep | 26 | Overview of the Course | |
| 29 | History of Ideas about the Solar System | Chaps. 1&2 |
| Oct | 1 | Celestial Mechanics and the nature of gravity | Ch. 3, pp. 59-67 |
| 3 | Measurement Systems, eclipses and tides | pp. 68-104 |
| 6 | Astronomical Instruments | Chaps. 9&10 |
| 8 | The Moon and Mercury | Chaps. 11&13 |
| 9 | Trip to Lick Observatory | Join us! |
| 10 | Venus | Chap. 15 |
| 13 | Mars | Chap. 14 |
| 15 | Structure of the Sun, nature of radiation | pp. 107-117 |
| 17 | The source of solar and stellar energy | Chap. 26&27 |
| 20 | Solar phenomena: sunspots, corona, etc. | Chap. 26&27 |
| 21/22 | Orionid meteor shower peaks | Go out and look! |
| 22 | Midterm Exam 1 | |
| 24 | The structure of the Earth | Chap. 12 |
| 27 | The Evolution of atmosphere and climate | Chap. 12 |
| 29 | The Greenhouse Effect, carbon cycle on Earth | Notes |
| 31 | Future of Terrestrial Life, colonies in space | Notes |
| Nov | 3 | Jupiter | Chap. 16 |
| 5 | Saturn | Chap. 16 |
| 7 | Uranus, Neptune and Pluto | Chap. 16 |
| 10 | Satellites and Rings of the outer planets | Chap. 17 |
| 12 | Asteroids | Chap. 18 |
| 14 | Comets | Chap. 19 |
| 17/18 | Leonid meteor shower peaks | Go out and look! |
| 17 | Midterm Exam 2 | |
| 19 | Meteors and Meteorites | pp. 349-356 |
| 21 | Theories of the Origin of the Solar System | pp. 357-362 |
| 24 | The Search for Other Planetary Systems | pp. 473-474 & Notes |
| 26 | Solar System Movies | |
| Dec | 1 | Life in the Universe | pp. 474-478 |
| 3 | The Search for Life in the Universe | Notes |
| 5 | Interstellar messages and review session | Notes |
| Dec | 10 | Final Exam, Wednesday, 4:00 - 7:00 pm | Good Luck! |
Revised edition, Oct 3