The Science of the Solar System

You will learn all the latest data about our solar system from the inspired and expert prof Brown.

Anyone wanting to know basic current information about our Solar System and the new missions that support the continued discovery in this field should take this course.

You will get to learn some surprising facts about what we know and what we don't know about the members of our solar system.

:-) The video lectures are a fantastic and entertaining look at the puzzles of our solar system, how some of the answers are being teased out, and the special world of astronomy in general.

You will learn a great deal about the story behind our solar system, and the competing theories behind some of what has happened.

Excellent to view and understand our solar system and its evolution The best!

Please take this superb class and expand your knowledge of our solar system and its implications to other star systems.

Mike Brown and his TAs did a great job with this online course and I learned so much about Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, the Kuiper Belt, the Asteroid Belt and other fascinating things about our Solar System.

Mike Brown and his grad students have put together the best (understandable and comprehensive) all-round explanation of science applied to our solar system and taken it farther out into the galaxy in a fascinating think-for-yourself-and-apply-what-you've-learned way to the contemporary space missions.

The main reason I took this course was to catch up on all the missions currently working and the findings we have discovered about our solar system.

If you really like astronomy and have the compelling need to know more about our solar system then this is the course for you.

I had little interest in our solar system until I have enrolled to this course given by Professor Mike Brown.

The guest lecturers also present their contributions in a focused and enjoyable manner.

The guest lecturers and TA presentations were also great.

Many thanks to Prof. Brown, his graduate assistants, and guest lecturers!

Mike Brown is an excellent instructor, and he and the occasional guest lecturers are experts currently working on the topics they talk about, which is pretty exciting.

The instuctor is engaging and knowledgeable, and the guest lecturers (such as Heather Knutson) are amazing.

Searching for an extraterrestrial life in and out of the solar system The lessons are jam-packed with an enourmous amount of useful information, guest lecturers like Kevin Hand (talking about exploring distant worlds like Europa) and Gohn Grotzinger (talking about Curiosity), that for a person that is not even interested so much in the topic, it will be an awesome and enjoyable experience to listen to the lectures.

Excellent course with a great lecturer and guest lecturers.

Teacher is clear and guest lecturers are pertinent Excellent course.

Mike Brown MA ybe - is a little smug and annoying at times and his pen-work on the slides is a little obscure but no worse than the guest lecturers.

I would highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn how astrophysicists expand our knoledge about the universe we live in.

I highly recommend this course for anyone with an interest in astronomy.

I highly recommend this course to everyone who is interested in a Caltech class of quality information and a world known professor like Mike Brown - the person who declassified Pluto as a planet.

I would highly recommend this course to anyone with a reasonable grasp of maths, an interest in science and astronomy wanting to learn for either pleasure or professional gain.

Highly recommended Great course.

I would recommend this course to anyone interested in the solar system This course is enjoyable to watch.

I really do recommend the class to anyone interested in the real observational science that goes on in the continual discoveries being made within our own solar system, as well exo-planets beyond.

This is an amazing class that I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in astronomy and would like to go beyond the basic general knowledge level.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in astronomy.

It's a great course for everyone interested in astronomy!

The course is accessible to anyone interested in astronomy regardless of background.

Dr. Brown breaks into 4 parts: Mars, The Gas/Ice Giants, Small Bodies, and Life in the Solar System.

By looking at the history of water on Mars, the interiors of giant planets, the small bodies of the solar system, and the search for life, Prof Mike Brown covers a very wide and diverse array of issues.

Great coverage of the outer planets and small bodies.

I learned about Mars (Past, composition, land features), how the Moon was formed, how to determine the interior of planets, all about planet paths (can be eccentric), tons of facts about small bodies (comets, meteorites, asteriods), why Pluto isn't considered a planet anymore, the Oort cloud, the Kuiper belt, lots of information about past rockets and their missions, future rocket launches, and a whole lot more of interesting information.

This course covers a few major topics in planetary science: the history of the Martian surface, with particular attention to water; the interior structure of the giant planets; planet formation; the small bodies of the solar system; and prospects for finding life on other planets and moons in the solar system.

The small bodies in the solar system 4\.

Dr. Brown's skepticism and sometimes cynicism got to me at times, but his knowledge is undeniable as is his passion.

I find this course presented quite exciting with Prof Brown; but at times the mathematical calculations leave me far behind.The fact that this course is a preliminary for graduates to Caltech is the reason for this.

Mike Brown does an excellent job of making the material accessible to all, even though it was quite difficult at times.

The quizzes and final exam are manageable, but at times frustrating.

Technical at times, but at the right level.

I have not focused on math and science since high school.

I am a high school senior from Taiwan, Tainan and have just been, very recently exploring astronomy from large scales to small ones.

It seems that the course can be also taken by high school students with physics - math background.

It was simple enough for someone from a non-astronomy background to understand, but in-depth enough to still be incredibly thought provoking and interesting.

The lectures are engaging and replete with thought provoking material.

Not as hard as Ronan Plesser's Intro to Astronomy, but still pretty demanding in that the quiz questions will make you review pretty solidly the week's lectures.

I enjoyed the weekly quiz questions especially.

I did not do the homework but may take this again next year and make a greater time commitment.

I am looking forward to updates to this course next year as I inform my friends of its excellence.