Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life? We'd like to kno...
What is a planet? Is Pluto a planet? This lecture traces the debate on the nature of what it means to be a planet by taking an historical approach, lo...
Comets are occasional visitors from the icy reaches of the outer Solar System. This lecture discusses the orbits, structure, and properties of comets,...
Beyond the orbit of Neptune is the realm of the icy worlds, ranging in size from Triton, the giant moon of Neptune, and the dwarf planets Pluto and Er...
Asteroids are the leftover rocky materials from the formation of the Solar System that reside mainly in a broad belt between the orbits of Mars and Ju...
All Jovian planets have rings. We are most familiar with the bright, spectacular rings of Saturn, but the other Jovian planets have rings systems arou...
Saturn is attended by a system of 56 known moons and bright, beautiful rings. The Moon system is the focus of our attention today. Saturn has one gian...
Jupiter is surrounded by a solar system in miniature of 63 known moons. Most (59) are tiny, irregular bodies that are a combination of captured astero...
Uranus and Neptune are the smallest and outermost of the 4 Jovian planets. While superficially similar to Jupiter and Saturn, there are substantial di...