Planetary Systems

Code:

AST4007

Acronym:

AST4007

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Astronomy

Instance: 2023/2024 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Physics and Astronomy
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M:A_ASTR	16	Study plan since academic year 2023/2024	1	-	6	42	162
			2

Teaching language

English
Obs.: As aulas serão em português caso todos dominem esta língua.

Objectives

• Introduce the students to the field of planetary system science, giving them all the tools to understand the concepts and terminology used;
• Introduce the basic processes of planet formation as an outcome of the stellar formation process;
• Familiarize the students with the basic theoretical and observational tools used in this domain;
• Introduce the state-of-the-art research and results;
• Use the planetary sciences domain to apply concepts of physics and astrophysics that were previously learned.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the course, the student should:

• Have a historical perspective about the discovery of our Solar System and of other planetary systems;
• Describe the characteristics of the Solar System bodies as well as their composition and structure;
• Have a background about the dynamics of planetary orbits;
• Recognize the basic steps of the formation of a solar-type star, and how those steps lead to the necessary conditions for planet formation;
• Have a general view about the process of planetary system formation and evolution, including some details about the formation of our own Solar System;
• Describe the characteristics of extra-solar planetary systems;
• List and describe the techniques used in this field of research as well as what astrophysical and physical information they provide;
• Recognize the limitations and caveats of the different techniques;
• Describe the difficulties and open issues in this field of research;
• Describe the present state-of-the-art knowledge about the research in planetary system sciences;
• Have an overall view about the challenges for the next years in this field, as well as about the major projects that will allow to give the next big steps;
• Discuss in a critical way all the results in the field;
• Read and present a scientific paper on planetary system research, and motivate an observational project in the field;
• Analyze in a qualitative and quantitative way sets of data coming from planet search programs and determine from them the physical parameters of extra-solar planets.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Basic physics and mathematics.

Program

Theoretical component:

1. The Solar System: a Historical Perspective

2. Basic dynamics

3. An introduction to the Solar System: general properties and basic concepts

4. Star formation: a brief overview

5. Disks as planet formation stages

6. Planet formation: from observational evidence to basic modelling

7. Searching for exoplanets: detection methods

8. Stellar Astrophysics and Exoplanets

9. The properties of planetary systems


Practical components:

a. Class excercises

b. Detecting an exoplanet with RV and transit data

c. Presentation of one scientific paper

Mandatory literature

De Pater Imke; Planetary sciences. ISBN: 9780521853712

Complementary Bibliography

S. Seager; Exoplanets, University of Arizona Press, 2011
R.W. Hilditch; An introduction to close binary systems, Cambridge University Press, 2001

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical classes.
Practical component includes the presentation of research papers, the resolution of exercises, and a computational work (and respective report).

Software

latex
http://www.astro.up.pt/resources/soap-t

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	50,00
Participação presencial	5,00
Trabalho escrito	45,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	120,00
Frequência das aulas	42,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Frequency of classes is not mandatory but is considered of great importance, and counts for the final evaluation.

Calculation formula of final grade

Weighted average of the 3 components:
- Written exam (50%) - minimum 7 (in 20) values
- Exercises about the subjects done during the classes  (5%)
- Report of practical work and presentation of scientific paper (45%)

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Working-students should contact the professors to coordinate in the best way possible the evaluation of the different components that are done during the semester.

Classification improvement

Only for the exam.

Observations

Jury: Nuno Santos, Pedro Viana