| Tue. Feb. 1 | Introduction to Celestial Mechanics | |
| Thu. Feb. 3 | Timescales & Coordinate Systems | Read Chap 1,2 |
| Tue. Feb. 8 | Review of Vector Mechanics | Read Chap 3 |
| Thu. Feb. 10 | Central Force Motion: Energy and Angular Momentum | Read Chap 4 |
| Tue. Feb. 15 | Central Force Motion: Stability of Circular Orbits | HW 1 due |
| Thu. Feb. 17 | Central Force Motion: Gravity | |
| Tue. Feb. 22 | The Two-Body Problem: Orbital Elements | HW 2 due; Read Chap 6 (you can skip 6.9-6.13) and Appendix A |
| Thu. Feb. 24 | The Three Dimensional Orbit | |
| Tue. Feb. 29 | The Orbit in Time | HW 3 due |
| Thu. Mar. 2 | Additional Problems in 2-Body Motion | |
| Tue. Mar. 7 | The N-Body Problem | HW 4 due; Read Chap 9 |
| Thu. Mar. 9 | The 3-Body Problem: Jacobi's Integral, Tisserand's Criterion | Read Chap 8 |
| Tue. Mar. 14 | The 3-Body Problem: Zero Velocity Curves, Capture and Escape | HW 5 due |
| Thu. Mar. 16 | The 3-Body Problem: Lagrangian Points, Horseshoe and Tadpole Orbits | |
| Tue. Mar. 21 | Spring Break | |
| Thu. Mar. 23 | Spring Break | |
| Tue. Mar. 28 | The Lagrange Equilibrium Points | HW 6 due; Read the Perturbation Handout and Part of Chap. 11 |
| Thu. Mar. 30 | Stability of the Lagrange Equilibrium Points | |
| Tue. Apr. 4 | Midterm | |
| Thu. Apr. 6 | Additional Problems in 3-Body Motion | |
| Tue. Apr. 11 | The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics | HW 7 due; Further reading will be primarily from Handouts. The material will parallel Danby's Chap. 11. |
| Thu. Apr. 13 | Drag Forces and Tidal Evolution | |
| Tue. Apr. 18 | Tidal Evolution and Planetary Oblateness | HW 8 due |
| Thu. Apr. 20 | Perturbation from a Constant Force (Radiation Pressure) | |
| Tue. Apr. 25 | Other Perturbations | HW 9 due |
| Thu. Apr. 27 | Planet-Planet Interactions: The Disturbing Function | |
| Tue. May 2 | Planetary Perturbations: Resonances | HW 10 due |
| Thu. May 4 | Planetary Perturbations: Secular Effects | |
| Tue. May 9 | Topic To Be Determined | HW 11 due |
| Thu. May 11 | Topic To Be Determined | |
| Tue. May 16 | Review for the Final | |
| Tue. May 23 | FINAL EXAM (4:00pm-6:00pm) | |
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