GEO-AST4410 – Planetary Sciences

After taking this course, you will be able to

• describe the structure and evolution of our solar system and planetary systems around other stars
• describe the distribution and properties of planets, minor planets, comets and meteorites
• understand components of celestial mechanics, which describe the motion of bodies within the gravitational field of the host star
• understand processes acting on and in planetary atmospheres, considering implications of distance to the sun/star and composition
• understand the differences and similarities of surface evolutions on the various solid surface bodies and implications for the interior process as well as climate evolution
• understand the fundamentals of the shapes and interior structure of the planetary body in relation to meteorite composition, heat budget and gravitation, including the conditions when a magnetic field can be generated
• describe a given topic in a popular science article within the subject area

Students admitted at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may apply to take this course as a single course student.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

• GEO1100 – Evolution of the Earth / AST2000 – Introduction to Astrophysics / AST1100 – Introduction to astrophysics (continued)
• 4th-semester courses within Geofysikk og klima (bachelor) or "general/programming-based astronomy"

Teaching in this course is organised with up to 2 hours of video lectures per week throughout the semester, as well as a one-hour on-campus lecture per week on open science questions.

In addition, there are 2 hours of compulsory seminars/practicals per week, where approved attendance is required in order to be allowed to sit the final written examination.

The video lectures are made available as pre-recorded videos one week before the lecture. Towards the end of each video, there will be a link to a quiz, used to identify any challenges in understanding and form the basis for what will be repeated and elaborated on during the physical lecture.

A semester-long, programming-based assignment shall be submitted. There will be five different topics available, and you may choose the one that interests you the most. The assignment must be approved in order for you to sit the final examination.

Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the course responsible.

We reserve the right to change the teaching form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or less students have been admitted.

• Approval of the mandatory seminars/practicals and a written assignment is prerequisite to being allowed in the final written examination.
• The final written examination counts 100% towards the final grade.

The mandatory seminar/practicals/written assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.

It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

It will also be counted as 1 of the 3 attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for the following course:

• GEO-AST3410 – Planetary Sciences

Courses taught in English will only offer the exam paper in English.

You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.