A Field Guide to the Planets by Professor Sabine Stanley
This is the course guidebook and video lecture DVD. Humanity’s first steps on the Moon were an immense accomplishment in 1969 and a fantastic milestone in the history of space exploration. And yet, how little we knew about our solar system as compared to what we know now! Since those famous steps were taken, we’ve discovered over 150 additional moons of all shapes, sizes, and compositions. We’ve sent spaceships and robotic laboratories to photograph and study each of the planets, dozens of moons, and even the Sun. We’ve discovered ring systems around three additional planets; landed robotic explorers on Mars, asteroids, and comets; and found thousands of exoplanets. What an exciting time this is to explore our solar system and beyond with A Field Guide to the Planets. Your instructor, Sabine Stanley, Ph.D., a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, guides you on a thrilling ride of discovery, illustrated by the phenomenal images NASA has gathered through its telescopes, cameras, and laboratories on Earth; in low-Earth orbit; and throughout the solar system. The solar system that began its formation 4.5 billion years ago is still a work in progress today, a three-dimensional, dynamic, ever-changing system of energy and matter all gravitationally bound to our star. With A Field Guide to the Planets, you will experience the journey of a lifetime—to the edges of our solar system and beyond. You will look to humanity’s next space missions with new excitement, and to our own Earth with greater understanding and appreciation than ever before.
