| Tue. Jan. 27 | Introduction to Celestial Mechanics | |
| Thu. Jan. 29 | Spherical Trigonometry | Read Chap. 1,2 |
| Tue. Feb. 3 | Review of Vector Mechanics | Read Chap. 3 |
| Thu. Feb. 5 | Central Force Motion: Energy and Angular Momentum | HW 1 due; Read Chap. 4 |
| Tue. Feb. 10 | Central Force Motion: Stability of Circular Orbits | |
| Thu. Feb. 12 | Central Force Motion: Gravity |
HW 2 due; Read Chap. 6 and Appendix A (you can skip 6.9-6.13) |
| Tue. Feb. 17 | Central Force Motion: General Relativity | |
| Thu. Feb. 19 | The Two-Body Problem: Orbital Elements | HW 3 due |
| Tue. Feb. 24 | The Three Dimensional Orbit | |
| Thu. Feb. 26 | The Orbit in Time | HW 4 due |
| Tue. Mar. 3 | Additional Problems in 2-Body Motion | |
| Thu. Mar. 5 | SNOW DAY | |
| Tue. Mar. 10 | MIDTERM | |
| Thu. Mar. 12 | The 3-Body Problem: Jacobi's Integral, Tisserand's Criterion | Skim Chap. 9; Read Chap. 8 |
| Tue. Mar. 17 | SPRING BREAK | |
| Thu. Mar. 19 | SPRING BREAK | |
| Tue. Mar. 24 | The 3-Body Problem: Zero Velocity Curves, Capture and Escape | HW 5 due |
| Thu. Mar. 26 | The 3-Body Problem: Lagrangian Points, Horseshoe and Tadpole Orbits | HW 6 due |
| Tue. Mar. 31 | Rotating and Inertial Reference Frames | |
| Thu. Apr. 2 | The Lagrange Equilibrium Points: Existence and Stability | HW 7 due |
| Tue. Apr. 7 | Additional Problems in 3-Body Motion | |
| Thu. Apr. 9 | The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics | Further reading will be primarily from Handouts. The material will parallel Danby's Chap. 11. HW 8 due |
| Tue. Apr. 14 | The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics | |
| Thu. Apr. 16 | MIDTERM | |
| Tue. Apr. 21 | Drag Forces; Tidal Evolution | |
| Thu. Apr. 23 | Planetary Oblateness | HW 9 due |
| Tue. Apr. 28 | Other Perturbations | |
| Thu. Apr. 30 | Planet-Planet Interactions: The Disturbing Function | HW 10 due |
| Tue. May 5 | Planetary Perturbations: Resonances | |
| Thu. May 7 | Planetary Perturbations: Secular Effects | HW 11 due |
| Tue. May 12 | TBD | |
| Wed. May 20 | FINAL EXAM (10:30am-12:30pm) | |
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