AST 114 - The Solar System

4 credit hours - Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory weekly; one term.
This course meets the Biological and Physical Sciences General Education Requirement.

Investigate the structure, dynamics, and major components of the solar system (sun, moon, Earth, other planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and meteoroids). Examine the origin and likely fate of the Earth, Sun, and the solar system as a whole. Compare our Solar System to other known planetary systems.

Prerequisite(s): Eligibility for ENG 101 /ENG 101A and eligibility for any general education math.

Note: Typically offered at MC; fall and spring terms.

Course Outcomes:

Describe the nature of science, including the role of observation and experiment, as well as what distinguishes science from pseudoscience and belief systems.
Describe the apparent motions and cycles of objects in the night sky and explain how these observations provided the evidence that the solar system is heliocentric and the Earth is not the center of the universe.
Apply the tools of astronomy, including relevant physical laws, the nature of light, how matter interacts with light, basic optics, and astronomical telescopes and instruments.
Explain the solar nebula theory for the formation of the solar system, as well as supporting evidence, and compare it to the more general picture of star and planetary system formation.
Discuss the Sun as a star, including the source and transportation mechanisms for the Sun’s energy, key stages of evolution, and the fate of the solar system as the sun evolves.
Discuss the unique, life-sustaining properties of the Earth, including its internal structure, surface, atmosphere, and geological history, and compare them to properties of other bodies in the solar system.