| Thu. Jan. 25 | Introduction to Orbital Dynamics | |
| Tue. Jan. 30 | Spherical Trigonometry | Read Chap. 1,2 |
| Thu. Feb. 1 | Review of Vector Mechanics | Read Chap. 3 |
| Tue. Feb. 6 | Central Force Motion: Energy and Angular Momentum | Read Chap. 4 |
| Thu. Feb. 8 | Central Force Motion: Stability of Circular Orbits | HW 1 due |
| Tue. Feb. 13 | Central Force Motion: Gravity |
Read Chap. 6 and Appendix A (you can skip 6.9-6.13) |
| Thu. Feb. 15 | Central Force Motion: General Relativity | |
| Tue. Feb. 20 | The Two-Body Problem: Orbital Elements | |
| Thu. Feb. 22 | The Three Dimensional Orbit | HW 2 due; HW 3 due |
| Tue. Feb. 27 | The Orbit in Time | |
| Thu. Feb. 29 | Additional Problems in 2-Body Motion | HW 4 due |
| Tue. Mar. 5 | Cancelled Class | |
| Thu. Mar. 7 | The 3-Body Problem: Jacobi's Integral, Tisserand's Criterion | Skim Chap. 9; Read Chap. 8 |
| Tue. Mar. 12 | The Lagrange Equilibrium Points: Existence and Stability | |
| Thu. Mar. 14 | The 3-Body Problem: Zero Velocity Curves, Capture and Escape | HW 5 due |
| Tue. Mar. 19 | SPRING BREAK | |
| Thu. Mar. 21 | SPRING BREAK | |
| Tue. Mar. 26 | The 3-Body Problem: Lagrangian Points, Horseshoe and Tadpole Orbits | |
| Thu. Mar. 28 | MINI-MIDTERM ; Rotating and Inertial Reference Frames | Mini-Midterm can be moved to Friday with unanimous class vote. |
| Fri. Mar. 29 | Make Up Class: Note Special Time! Additional Problems in 3-Body Motion | Bring Midterm Questions |
| Tue. Apr. 2 | MIDTERM | |
| Thu. Apr. 4 | The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics | HW 6 due |
| Tue. Apr. 9 | The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics | Further reading will be primarily from Handouts. The material will parallel Danby's Chap. 11. |
| Thu. Apr. 11 | Drag Forces; Tidal Evolution | HW 7 due |
| Tue. Apr. 16 | Planetary Oblateness | |
| Thu. Apr. 18 | Other Perturbations | HW 8 due |
| Tue. Apr. 23 | Planet-Planet Interactions: The Disturbing Function | |
| Thu. Apr. 25 | Planetary Perturbations: Resonances | HW 9 due |
| Tue. Apr. 30 | Planetary Perturbations: Secular Effects | |
| Thu. May 2 | TBD | HW 10 due |
| Tue. May 7 | TBD | |
| Thu. May 9 | TBD | HW 11 due |
| Fri. May 17 | FINAL EXAM (10:30am-12:30pm) | |
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