This course investigates the origin of life on the Earth and the prospects for finding life elsewhere in the cosmos, and begins with an overview of the Earth's place in the solar system and the universe. The course examines the early history of the Earth and the development of life, changes in the sun that affect the Earth, characteristics of the other objects in our solar system and their potential for supporting life, the detection of planets around stars other than the sun, and the search for extraterrestrial life. Our exploration of our place in the universe will include some nighttime observing at our on-campus observatory.

This course provides an overview of the Universe through the lens of the physical principles that help us to probe it from right here on our puny planetary perch. Topics include stars and their planetary companions, the lives and deaths of stars, black holes, galaxies, and the origin and fate of the Universe. Class meetings include a mix of lecture and daytime laboratory activities. Additional required weekly nighttime sessions (scheduled according to the weather) guide students through their own observations of the sky with both naked eyes and the historic and modern telescopes of Whitin Observatory. This course serves as a gateway to more advanced courses in our astronomy curriculum.

This course will focus on exoplanets and the stellar systems they inhabit. Topics include exoplanet demographics, techniques of discovery and characterization, models of formation and evolution, and potential for future telescopes to uncover signs of atmospheric chemistry and habitability. Students will practice application of physical principles, build data analysis skills, and be introduced to astronomical literature. Students will also make exoplanet transit observations with our on-campus telescope and will model the resulting light curve to ascertain properties of a real exoplanetary system.

Design your own planetary mission and build your own scientific probe in this project-based course about the practice of planetary exploration! Students will learn about the science and technology of exploring extreme environments through  studying the development of a historical planetary mission and by building their own instrumented probe to investigate a challenging environment such as the Earth's lower atmosphere or the bottom of Lake Waban. Depending on their role in the project, students can gain experience with a wide range of new skills, such as how to assemble and test electronic circuits, computer programming, and data analysis.  

This course provides an introduction to modern methods of astronomical observation. Students will learn to use the Whitin Observatory's 0.7m research telescope. Topics include: planning observations, modern instrumentation, and the acquisition and quantitative analysis of astronomical images. This course requires substantial nighttime telescope use and culminates with an independent observing project.

The 21st-century Universe is weirder than 20th-century astronomers could imagine: its matter is mostly dark, the effects of dark energy dominate its evolution, and it is expanding at an accelerating rate. The galaxies in our Universe come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; they are cocooned in dark matter envelopes and harbor monster black holes at their centers. This class will explore what we think we know about our Universe's makeup, history, and fate. We will develop some of the basic laws of physics necessary to understand theoretical cosmology and galaxy evolution and apply them to the interpretation of modern observations.

Spacecraft observations have revealed a breathtaking diversity of geologic features in the solar system, such as the giant impact basins on Mars, towering thrust fault scarps on Mercury, coronae structures on Venus, and active volcanoes on Io and Enceladus. From a comparative perspective, this course examines the physical processes that drive the evolution of the planets and small bodies in the solar system. Topics include: planetary shape and internal structure, mechanisms of topographic support, tectonics, impacts, volcanism, and tides. Some class sessions are reserved for seminar-style discussions of journal articles. Students will produce a final project that involves researching a topic of their choosing.

In this course students will learn advanced techniques for experimental astronomy and planetary science. Students will carry out term-long projects involving acquisition and analysis of data. In some cases these data will be derived from observations performed with telescopes or instruments built by the students themselves. In other cases students will build projects around data from space missions or ground or space-based telescopes. Techniques may include spectroscopy, photometry, multiwavelength astronomy, remote sensing of planetary surfaces, particle astrophysics, and gravitational wave astronomy.

Astrophysics is the application of physics to the study of the Universe. We will use elements of mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, special relativity, and nuclear physics to investigate selected topics such as planetary dynamics, the life stories of stars and galaxies, the interstellar medium, high-energy processes, and large scale structure in the Universe. Our goals will be to develop insight into the physical underpinnings of the natural world and to construct a "universal toolkit" of practical astrophysical techniques that can be applied to the entire celestial menagerie.

The first course in a two-semester investigation (360/370) of a significant research problem, culminating in the preparation of a thesis and defense (oral examination) of that thesis before a committee of faculty from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Required for honors in the major.

The second course of the 360/370 sequence.