Class Announcements:

2018-10-18: The two additional papers discussed in today's class are "Habitable Zone Dependence on Stellar Parameter Uncertainties" and "The Catalog of Earth-Like Exoplanet Survey Targets (CELESTA): A Database of Habitable Zones Around Nearby Stars".

2018-10-16: A useful resource for telluric line lists can be found in the HITRAN Database.

2018-10-11: I highly recommend taking a look at the recent tutorial on "How to Characterize the Atmosphere of a Transiting Exoplanet". Also, for next week's classes, check out the two relevant papers regarding Habitable Zones.

2018-10-10: The most recent exoplanet mass-radius relationship can be found in this paper: "Probabilistic Forecasting of the Masses and Radii of Other Worlds".

2018-10-09: The mass-radius relationship discussed in class is from this paper: "The Mass-Radius Relation for 65 Exoplanets Smaller than 4 Earth Radii".

2018-10-08: There are useful resources regarding planetary interior models at Li Zeng's web site.

2018-09-26: Interesting review paper on "The Inner Solar System's Habitability Through Time".

2018-09-13: Class announcements will appear here periodically.

Contact details:

• Instructor: Stephen Kane
• Office: Pierce Hall 2360
• Office hours: Wednesdays, 1:00pm-3:00pm
• Phone: 951-827-6593
• Email: skane@ucr.edu

Download the class syllabus here.

Class times:

• Tuesday, 9:30am-11:00am Geology 1444
• Thursday, 9:30am-11:00am Geology 1444

Text:

• "Planetary Sciences, Updated Second Edition" by Imke de Pater & Jack Lissauer
• I also recommend "Principles of Planetary Climate" by Raymond Pierrehumbert and "Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds" by David Catling & James Kasting

Useful Links:

• The NASA Astrophysics Data System
• astro-ph preprint server
• The Habitable Zone Gallery
• The NASA Exoplanet Archive
• The Exoplanet Data Explorer
• The Exoplanet Characterization Toolkit
• The Systemic Console
• Planetary Spectrum Generator

Lectures:

• Lecture 1 - Introduction
• Lecture 2 - Habitability Factors
• Lecture 3 - Planetary Atmospheres
• Lecture 4 - Planetary Interiors
• Lecture 5 - Planetary Energy Balance
• Lecture 6 - Habitable Zone I
• Lecture 7 - Habitable Zone II
• Lecture 8 - Earth as a Living Planet
• Lecture 9 - Mars
• Lecture 10 - Icy Moons
• Lecture 11 - Venus
• Lecture 12 - Mercury & the Moon
• Lecture 13 - The Role of Giant Planets
• Lecture 14 - Stellar Influences
• Lecture 15 - Magnetic Fields
• Lecture 16 - Milankovitch Cycles
• Lecture 17 - Geological Cycles
• Lecture 18 - Biosignatures
• Lecture 19 - Summary/Discussion
• Lecture 20 - Final Exam

Assessment:

• Homework (40%): There will be four homeworks during the semester. Most problems will require analytic solutions, however there will usually be one problem per assignment that will involve graphing and numerical solution with computer software such as Mathematica, MATLAB, or any programming language.
• Data Project (30%): Students will be required to complete a project in which they provide a detailed study of a planetary system of their choosing in which at least one planet lies within the Habitable Zone. Exoplanet data are available from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, the Exoplanet Data Explorer, and the Habitable Zone Gallery. Characterization tools are available from the Exoplanet Characterization Toolkit, the Systemic Console, and the Planetary Spectrum Generator. The written report may be up to 6 pages long (including plots). Guidelines on writing lab reports may be found here.
• Final Exam (30%): The final exam will test on all material covered during the quarter and will be held during the final class. Please arrive on time. If you arrive after someone else has finished the exam, you may not take that exam.

Final Grades:

• A = 90% to 100%
• B = 77% to 89%
• C = 65% to 76%
• D = 50% to 64%
• F = below 50%