Planets, Solar System and The Universe Beyond

Bring with you: Read ordinary English and add, subtract, multiply and divide simple numbers; a calculator is welcome. No astronomy or physics knowledge is assumed.

Learn how we can measure worlds we cannot visit, reconstruct stellar and cosmic history, and distinguish a discovery from an attractive claim.

Sixty connected Missions move from sky observation and basic mathematics to planetary science, stellar astrophysics, galaxies and cosmology. Finish with four investigations that combine models and audit the limits of the evidence.

By the end, you can…

• Navigate astronomical scales and evaluate observations, models and uncertainties.
• Explain the changing sky, seasons, phases and eclipses using geometry.
• Calculate gravitational, orbital and tidal relationships under stated assumptions.
• Explain planetary formation, interiors, surfaces and climate through physical processes.
• Compare the eight planets, active moons and small bodies without confusing classification with physical nature.
• Use light, spectra, telescopes and distance methods to infer physical properties.
• Explain stellar structure, evolution, element production and compact remnants.
• Infer exoplanet properties and assess detection bias, habitability and biosignature claims.
• Use galaxies, dynamics and lensing to evaluate structure and dark-matter evidence.
• Explain expansion, cosmic history and the evidence and limitations of cosmological models.
• Plan observations and assess uncertainty, competing explanations and reproducibility.
• Combine multiple calculations and evidence checks in planetary, stellar and cosmological investigations.

For another Course

• Graduate-level completeness, tensor calculus, numerical stellar-structure solutions and full general-relativistic derivations.
• A professional observational qualification or a guarantee of research mastery from recognition tasks alone. Optional written investigations are unscored.
• Unverified discovery claims, changing satellite or exoplanet counts, and a claim that extraterrestrial life is confirmed.