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Planets come in many different sizes, and with many different compositions, orbiting our Sun and countless other stars. Understanding their properties and interactions requires an understanding of a diverse set of sub-fields, including orbital and atmospheric dynamics, geology, geophysics, and chemistry. This textbook provides a physics-based tour of introductory planetary science concepts for undergraduate students majoring in astronomy, planetary science, or related fields. It shows how principles and equations learned in introductory physics classes can be applied to study many aspects of planets, including dynamics, surfaces, interiors, and atmospheres. It also includes chapters on the discovery and characterization of extrasolar planets, and the physics of planet formation.
Key Features
- Covers a wide range of planetary science topics at an introductory level
- Coherently links the fields of solar system science, exoplanetary science, and planet formation
- Each chapter includes homework questions
- Includes python templates for reproducing and customizing the figures in the book
The book assumes that you are up to university first-year standards in mathematics and physics. It then divides the subject into nine topics. We start by defining the term ‘planet’, and then considering the form of the solar energy source. Chapters three and four consider orbits and the restricted three-body problem. We then have a detailed discussion of extrasolar planets. Chapters six, seven, and eight review planetary interiors, surfaces, and atmospheres. The book ends with a comprehensive chapter on planetary formation. The text abounds with terms like geostrophic balance, Hadley circulation, Jeans’ mass, oligarchic growth, Toomre stability criterion, planetary migration, tidal circularization, hot Jupiters, and mean-motion resonances. I recommend it most strongly. It is spot on. I did however have one little caveat. It skates over the mysteries. It gives the impression that our understanding is nearly complete. I always liked to tease my students with a few left-field questions. Was Mercury once a satellite of Venus? Why does Venus spin so slowly? Why has Earth only one moon? Why do Jupiter and Saturn go round every ten hours? Why has Uranus been tipped over? Why does the system end at Neptune? How many comets are left? Does every planetary system have an asteroid belt? Why have we only got eight planets? How does planetary origin depend on stellar mass and singularity? And so on. At least it gives them the impression that there is still plenty of work to do.
David W. Hughes. 2021 October The Observatory
This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium).
Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission. Funding for the TESS mission is provided by the NASA Explorer Program.
Some of the data in this archive are obtained by the MOA collaboration with the 1.8 metre MOA-II telescope at the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. The MOA collaboration is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant and the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund.
Foreword
1 Introduction
2 Energy from the Sun
3 Planetary Dynamics for Two Bodies
4 More Complicated Dynamics: More than two bodies, and non-point masses
5 Extrasolar planets
6 Planetary Interiors
7 Planetary Surfaces
8 Planetary Atmospheres
9 Planet Formation