Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is perpetually veiled behind
opaque clouds of sulfuric acid droplets atop a hot, heavy, carbon
dioxide atmosphere. In size and apparent composition, however, it is a
near twin-sister of the Earth. Why is it do different? In this lecture
I review the basic properties of Venus, and examine the similarties and
differenc ... Show More
Nov 2007
Lecture 35: The Deserts of Mars
Mars is a cold desert planet with a thin, dry carbon-dioxide atmosphere. The geology of Mars, however, shows signs of an active past, with hot-spot volcanism, and tantalizing signs of ancient water flows. While a cold, dead desert planet today, Mars' past may have been warmer and ... Show More
43m 45s
Nov 2007
Lecture 36: Worlds in Comparison - The Terrestrial Planets
Having completed our tour of the Terrestrial Planets, we want to step back and compare their properties. In particular, we will wi review the processes that drive the evolution of their surfaces, their interiors, and their atmospheres. Recorded 2007 Nov 13 in 1000 McPherson Lab o ... Show More
42m 25s
Mar 2006
Lecture 44: Life, the Universe, and Everything (Life Part II)
How can we search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and what are we looking for? This second part of a 2-part lecture picks up where we left off yesterday by examining SETI, the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence, and reviews what we might look for and how. We will use thi ... Show More
45m 56s
Sep 2006
Lecture 2: Astronomical Numbers
Before we can begin our exploration of astronomy, we need to develop a
common language for notating large numbers, and introduce the basic
units of length, mass, and time that we will use throughout the quarter.
We will first re-introduce the basic metric system, explaining how t ... Show More
43m 29s