Course Syllabus
For details on the class work and our expectations, please see the syllabus we handed out in class. For information on the poster project, visit the tab "POSTER IDEAS" above.
--Class Dates & Topics--
 Lectures are accompanied by .pdf formatted work sheets. Adobe Reader is required to view these files.
-Get Adobe Reader Here-
|
August 28, 2007: “Introduction and Magnetic Fields” – Greg Schultz and Laura Peticolas lecturer
On this first day of class, we will introduce the class, provide everyone with a syllabus, and then explore magnetic fields around bar magnets.
Assignment for next class, Sept. 11th
...(NOTE THAT THE SEPTEMBER 4th CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELED)
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: The Sun-Earth Connection Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
September 11 , 2007: “The Sun-Earth Connection” – Bryan Mendez lecturer
As scientists studying Magnetism, it is helpful to visualize this invisible force. One way of doing this is to use an instrument to measure the magnetic force around magnetic objects and then write down or map out what the instrument tells us. Prior to Dr. Mendez' talk, we will map magnetic fields around bar magnets and discuss what we see.
Reliable, constant, unchanging. This is the way we think about our Sun. An ‘old faithful’ source of energy and heat. The Inca thought that the Sun has the power to makes things grow. And it does. But research has shown us that the Sun is a tremendously violent, variable, magnetic star whose activity affects the Earth and planets in fundamental ways. The Earth is constantly bathed by the solar wind, a stream of charged, high-speed particles traveling at an average of 250 miles (~400 km) per second. Thus the Earth is physically within the atmosphere of the Sun. The solar wind shapes the Earth’s magnetosphere, and solar magnetic storms and massive particle ejections from the corona affect the Earth, and can disrupt communications, damage satellites, and even cause blackouts.
"We live in an exciting environment: the heliosphere, the exotic outer atmosphere of a star. The space beyond Earth’s protective atmospheric cocoon is highly variable and far from benign. It is the one part of the cosmos accessible to direct scientific investigation, our only hands-on astrophysical laboratory. Our technological society is increasingly susceptible to space weather disturbances in this curious region. A host of interconnected physical processes, strongly influenced by solar variability, affect the health and safety of travelers in space and the habitability of alien environments." - NASA Heliophysics Division
Dr. Mendez's talk as a PDF file: The Sun-Earth Connection - (.pdf, 1.6MB). If you want the original images from this talk, please ask Greg or Laura.
Assignment for next class
Read from "The Sun": Introduction and Chapter 1 (pp. 6-49)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
September 18 , 2007: "Magnetic Storm PBS special" - Greg Schultz and Laura Peticolas
What inspired you from last week's reading and the photographs you looked at? After discussing this question, we will hopefully answer some questions you had by showing and discussing the PBS NOVA "Magnetic Storm." This is also a good introduction to our next speaker's presentation. Learn more at the link below.
Assignment for next class
Read over this document about creating your poster: Creating a Poster - (.pdf)
Fill out the Vocabulary Sheet: Mars' Lumpy Magnetosphere - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
September 25, 2007: “Mars’ Lumpy Magnetosphere” – David Brain lecturer
Before this week's lecture we will discuss the PBS NOVA Magnetic Storm video, which we saw the week before.
For centuries Mars has been an object of fascination for scientists and
the public alike, partly because of its many visible similarities with
Earth. In terms of its magnetic field, however, Mars is very different
from Earth, and any other planet in the solar system. Much of what we
know about the Mars' magnetic environment has been learned in the past
decade, through spacecraft measurements of magnetic fields and charged
particles.
We will cover three main topics in this class. First, we will briefly
review how magnetic fields and charged particles are measured at Mars.
Next we will discuss the main differences between magnetic fields at Earth
and Mars. Finally, we will discuss what these differences teach us about
the Martian interior, crust, atmosphere, and ability to harbor life.
Assignment for next class
Read from your book "The Sun," Chapter 4, pages 114-141. We'll have a writing assignment on this reading in the Oct 2nd class.
-back to class dates & topics-
|
October2, 2007: “Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum and its Applications to Space Science ” – Greg Schultz and Laura Peticolas
What could cause a series of interesting events on Earth including glowing skies, radio disruptions, and blackouts? Explore this questions and then learn about the electromagnetic spectrum.
We discuss the poster topics and help you find a partner to work with if possible. We will have an in class writing assignment on Chapter 4 of "The Sun" and then a short talk on auroras by Laura, finishing up the slides that Bryan Mendez did not finish on September 11th.
Assignment for next class
Fill out the Poster question and partner information on your write-up page for this class period.
Write-up questions and poster question - (.pdf )
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: Earth's Magnetotail Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf )
-back to class dates & topics-
|
October 9, 2007: “Earth’s Magnetotail” – Marit Oieroset lecturer
The Earth’s magnetosphere is the region in space defined by the Earth’s magnetic field. On the night side of the planet the magnetosphere is stretched into a long magnetic tail. In this presentation you will learn why the Earth has a magnetotail, how scientists use spacecraft measurements to study it, and what they can learn from these measurements. I will also show you how magnetic storms in the tail can generate beautiful aurora in the sky and how the length of the tail is determined by the way the Earth’s magnetic field connects to the Sun’s magnetic field.
Assignment for next class
Read Chapter 5 of "The Sun," pages 142-173.
Read the following two NASA web pages regarding the solar system and its formation
Investigate one NASA solar system mission referred to on either page (or elsewhere, if you like). Write 1-2 paragraphs on that spacecraft mission's scientific goals, etc. -- i.e. what it hopes to discover or learn about some object(s) in the solar system. Please hand in this writing assignment Tue. 10/16.
-back to class dates & topics-
|
October 16, 2007: “The Formation of the Sun and the Planets” – Randolf Klein lecturer
You heard and will hear more about the sun, the planets, and dust, but
why is the solar system as we see it today? This lecture will be about
how the solar system has formed. It will more general introduce the
current picture of how stars and their planetary system form from
interstellar dust and gas. We will talk about the extraordinary feat of
nature to condense gas more tenuous than the best man-made vacuum to the
high densities to allow nuclear fusion in the Sun's interior. Further,
we will learn that in that processes the planets and the rest of the
solar system came into existence, too.
Assignment for next class
Read Chapter 3 of "The Sun," pages 80-113.
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: Astronomy Heritage of the Americas Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
October 23, 2007: "Understanding the rich astronomy heritage of the Americas from a modern perspective of the Sun"- Isabel Hawkins lecturer
In this talk we will introduce how ancient peoples have studied the Sun, such as the Mayans in Mexico.
NASA's Traditions of the Sun web site - http://www.traditionsofthesun.org/
Assignment for next class
Read Chapter 6 of "The Sun," pages 174-207.
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: History of Space Weather Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
October 30, 2007: “The History of Space Weather from the Sun to Earth’s Magnetosphere” – Jonathan Eastwood lecturer
In this talk we will introduce the science of space weather - looking at the
ways in which the sun can unexpectedly, and sometime dramatically, influence
what happens here on Earth. In the first part of the talk, we will explore how
this subject has developed through history, from antiquity, through the court of
Queen Elizabeth and on to the 21st century.
In the second part of the talk, we will look at what we know today, and
introduce the ideas (and the people behind them) that underpin our current
understanding of space weather. We will also look at how space weather
prediction is used on a daily basis.
Assignment for next class
Read Chapter 2 of "The Sun," pages 52-79.
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: Earth's Upper Atmosphere Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
November 6, 2007: “Earth’s Upper Atmosphere” – Thomas Immel lecturer
Earth's atmosphere exhibits tremendous changes as one travels toward space from the
surface. The physical properties of temperature, density, and composition of the
atmosphere all change drastically between the ground and space, from the freezing cold
of the mesopause, to the thousand degree temperatures higher in the thermosphere. The
effects of solar energy inputs, chemistry, and vertical coupling of heat and momentum
that affect the properties of the atmosphere will be introduced. The importance of the
upper atmosphere in determining the conditions of Earth's space environment (its
ionosphere and magnetosphere) will be discussed.
Assignment for next class
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: The Mysterious Aurora Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
November 13 , 2007: “The Mysterious Aurora” – Harald Frey lecturer
The aurora appears as a mysterious glow in the sky and has been fascinating people for a long time. Historic records contain reports that people considered them as signs from god, or the reflected light from large fires. This lecture will explain the physical cause of auroras as a result of the interaction between energetic electrons and the upper atmosphere. We will explain why the aurora shows different colors and why it is generally not seen in California. The lecture will contain color photographs and movies of auroras to demonstrate their appearance and dynamics.
Assignment for next class
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: Experimenting in Space - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
November 20 , 2007: “Experimenting in Space” – Manfred Bester lecturer
Researchers at Space Sciences Laboratory study the interaction between the Sun and the Earth to understand which physical processes are responsible for creating exciting phenomena such as the northern lights. This type of
research often requires launching satellites into space to gather scientific data that can be analyzed to solve underlying mysteries.
There is an enormous effort involved in conducting a successful experiment in space. A space mission takes many years from start to finish, beginning with thinking hard about how to study a particular scientific problem, carefully
plan the space mission, build the scientific instruments, integrate the instruments into a spacecraft, launch the spacecraft, operate the spacecraft on-orbit, retrieve data collected on-orbit, and finally analyze and interpret
the data.
This lecture will take place at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California in Berkeley. A tour of the Satellite Mission Operations Center will be held following the lecture. Here are directions to the laboratory for this class.
Assignment for next class
Read Chapter 7 of "The Sun," pages 208-234.
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: Capturing Stardust Vocabulary Sheet - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
November 27, 2007: “Capturing Stardust for the first time” – Anna Butterworth lecturer
On January 15, 2006, The stardust spacecraft successfully returned to Earth carrying precious cargo. Scientists now have in their hands for the first time samples of a kuiper belt comet and contemporary interstellar particles. The few comet particles examined so far have already begun to tell us about how the solar system formed. To locate the interstellar particles, the largest of which are only a micron, thousands of volunteers will search portions of the collector in a virtual microscope.
Assignment for next class
Fill out the vocabulary sheet: Space Weather and Climate Impacts on Life - (.pdf)
-back to class dates & topics-
|
December 4, 2007: “Space Weather and Climate Impacts on Life” – Mark Moldwin lecturer
In this talk I will introduce astronaut safety in the context of space weather such as coronal mass ejections and solar flares. I will discuss the trade-offs between human versus robotic exploration of space.
Assignment for next class
Gather all the parts of your poster and bring it to the next class period so you can finish it and/or ask questions you might have about finishing it.
-back to class dates & topics-
|
December 11, 2006: Poster Session Preparation
-back to class dates & topics-
|
December 18, 2006: Poster Session
-back to class dates & topics-
|
|
Class Syllabus - (.html)
