ASTR450 LECTURE SCHEDULE

Lecture Date
Lecture Topic
Reading
Tue. Aug. 29 Introduction to Celestial Mechanics
Thu. Aug. 31 Spherical Trigonometry Read Chap. 1,2
Tue. Sep. 5 Review of Vector Mechanics Read Chap. 3
Thu. Sep. 7 Central Force Motion: Energy and Angular Momentum HW 1 due; Read Chap. 4
Tue. Sep. 12 Central Force Motion: Stability of Circular Orbits
Thu. Sep. 14 Central Force Motion: Gravity HW 2 due; Read Chap. 6 and Appendix A
(you can skip 6.9-6.13)
Tue. Sep. 19 Central Force Motion: General Relativity
Thu. Sep. 21 The Two-Body Problem: Orbital Elements HW 3 due
Tue. Sep. 26 The Three Dimensional Orbit
Thu. Sep. 28 The Orbit in Time HW 4 due
Tue. Oct. 3 Additional Problems in 2-Body Motion
Thu. Oct. 5 The 3-Body Problem: Jacobi's Integral, Tisserand's Criterion HW 5 due; Skim Chap. 9; Read Chap. 8
Tue. Oct. 10 The 3-Body Problem: Zero Velocity Curves, Capture and Escape
Thu. Oct. 12 The 3-Body Problem: Lagrangian Points, Horseshoe and Tadpole Orbits HW 6 due
Tue. Oct. 17 Short Class Today Classtime made up with
5 min. extensions to regular classes
Thu. Oct. 19 MIDTERM
Tue. Oct. 24 Rotating and Inertial Reference Frames
Thu. Oct. 26 The Lagrange Equilibrium Points: Existence and Stability HW 7 due
Tue. Oct. 31 Additional Problems in 3-Body Motion
Thu. Nov. 2 The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics HW 8 due
Tue. Nov. 7 The Perturbation Equations of Celestial Mechanics Further reading will be primarily from Handouts. The material will parallel Danby's Chap. 11.
Thu. Nov. 9 Drag Forces; Tidal Evolution HW 9 due
Tue. Nov. 14 Planetary Oblateness
Thu. Nov. 16 Other Perturbations HW 10 due
Tue. Nov. 21 Planet-Planet Interactions: The Disturbing Function
Thu. Nov. 23 THANKSGIVING
Tue. Nov. 28 Planetary Perturbations: Resonances
Thu. Nov. 30 Planetary Perturbations: Secular Effects HW 11 due
Tue. Dec. 5 TBD
Thu. Dec. 7 TBD HW 12 due
Mon. Dec. 18 FINAL EXAM (1:30pm-3:30pm)

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Last Modified: Tue Aug 29 11:15:05 2017