• Level of study

    BAC +1

  • ECTS

    4 credits

  • Component

    Faculty of Science

Description

The planetology course focuses on the Solar System and its planets. Its position in the Universe is also addressed, allowing the introduction of the notion of exoplanet (detection and habitability). The teaching is composed of 3 parts: astrophysics, geophysics and geochemistry. The astrophysics part begins with a contextualization of the Universe and then deals with the formation of the Solar System, its dynamics and its evolution. The geophysics part deals with the planetary interiors and their evolution based on data from space missions. The geochemistry part deals with nucleosynthesis, the abundance of chemical elements and the composition of the primitive and current Earth and other planets from the study of meteorites. The approach developed combines theoretical and practical approaches.

Hourly volumes:

  • CM : 18h
  • TD : 9h
  • Practical work : 9h
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Necessary pre-requisites

Recommended prerequisites:

Mathematics or physics; basis of mineralogy-crystallochemistry: the content of the UE "Earth and its resources" of the L1 Earth-Water-Environment constitutes an ideal prerequisite to approach this UE.

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Knowledge control

Continuous assessment (CC)

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Syllabus

Synthetic description of the concepts covered in CM:

1) Geophysics/Astrophysics (12 CM)

  • Background: Universe
  • Formation of the Solar System (star, nebula, protoplanet)
  • Dynamics and evolution of the Solar System (revolution/orbit, rotation, interaction between bodies: precession, nutation, tidal effects)
  • Planetary interiors and their evolution (geophysical tools, space missions)
  • Exoplanets

2) Geochemistry (6CM)

  • Nucleosynthesis/element abundances
  • Meteorites
  • Composition of the primitive Earth, current and other planets

Synthetic description of the TD sessions and number of hours associated with each session

  • Evolution of the Earth-Moon system (3 h): use of angular momentum to calculate the speed of the Moon's move away - Simple calculations to estimate the future of the system.
  • Detection of exoplanets (3h): use of radial velocity and transit methods
  • Geochemistry (3h): Chemical composition of Mars (notion of mass balance, density).

Synthetic description of the practical sessions and number of hours associated with each session

  • Martian seismology (6h): use of seismological data from the InSight mission
  • Macroscopic observations of different groups of meteorites (3h).
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Targeted competencies

  • Know how to determine the main physical characteristics of a planet from observations
  •  Understand the physical phenomena that govern the shape and movement of planets
  •  Know the tools for describing minerals and rocks
  •  Know how to identify the different groups of meteorites
  •  Know how to perform a mass balance in geochemistry
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