Take a journey through fascinating outer worlds that lay beyond the earth's sphere. 

Course Overview:

    * Look at the broad picture of our surroundings and place Earth and our planetary system in context with the Universe.
    * Learn why we need the stars to know our location and time of day, even in our modern world.
    * Find out why the Sun appears to go around the Earth along a steady path through the constellations of the Zodiac; learn that the changing seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis and the rate at which the Sun heats the ground.
    * Investigate the history of the constellations and star names and how it reflects the history of the western world, and brings us into closer touch with our forebearers.
    * Consider the depth of the Moon’s contribution to life and culture on Earth—a profound part of our folklore and our means to count the days.
    * Consider the seven moving bodies of the sky (Sun, Moon, and five “ancient” planets) and how they are reflected in the seven days of the week, the seven colors of the rainbow, and the Seven Sisters of Taurus.
    * Understand the importance of gravity in the Universe. Learn how Newton’s formulations help us predict planetary positions, launch spacecraft, and find the masses of everything from the Earth to distant galaxies.
    * Discover why energy in the Universe is transmitted mostly by radiation, which warms the day, cools the night, and allows us to see the stars.
    * Understand physical astronomy: the science in which we reach out to learn the real natures of the planets.
    * Ponder Earth as the paradigm for all the other inner planets.
    * Voyage to the two giant planets of the Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn.
    * Explore Uranus and Neptune—close twins with the distinct exception of their axial tilts.
    * Investigate the Solar System’s leftovers of planetary formation -- comets and asteroids.
    * Understand how the accumulated data on the Solar System provides profound information on how the planets were created from the dust of outer space.

Course Syllabus:

Introductory Remarks

Lecture I We and the Universe

Lecture II Reflections of the Spinning Earth

Lecture III Sun and Seasons

Lecture IV Stories in the Sky: Constellations

Lecture V Romance of the Moon

Lecture VI Happy Wanderers: The Planets

Lecture VII Keeping It All Together

Lecture VIII Reaching Outward

Lecture IX Our Domain: Earth and the Moon

Lecture X Iron Planets: Mercury, Venus, and Mars

Lecture XI Monsters of the Midway: Jupiter and Saturn

Lecture XII Distant Outposts: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

Lecture XIII Leftovers of Creation: Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors

Lecture XIV Creation

Course Materials

Related links: 
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html 
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/cosmic.html 
http://www.nineplanets.org/ 
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/the_book/Chap1/Chapter1.html 
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/spacesciences/observingsky/motion1.htm 
http://www.celestialnavigation.net/ 
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php 
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/time/seasons.html 
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/projects/data/Seasons/index.html