GCSE Astronomy — Exploring the Solar System

Led by Christiaan Huygens

About this course

The eleventh module of the Edexcel GCSE Astronomy course is the largest in the spec at thirty-two points, and is the systematic survey of the Solar System and the telescopic instruments used to examine it. The student moves through the planets, dwarf planets, and small bodies; the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud reservoirs; the structure and orbits of comets; the Halley transit-of-Venus method for the absolute distance scale; the origin of Earth's water; and the optics of refracting and reflecting telescopes.

It is led by Christiaan Huygens — the Dutch polymath who discovered Saturn's moon Titan, correctly identified Saturn's rings, invented the pendulum clock and the wave theory of light, and gave the first defensible estimate of the distance to a star.

The student leaves the module able to identify and characterise every category of Solar System body, describe the orbital reservoirs of comets, account for planetary characteristics in the spec's six-fold scheme, describe the Halley method for the AU, account for theories of Earth's water, and explain the optics of refractors and reflectors.

1. Module 11

   Exploring the Solar System

   Led by Christiaan Huygens

   The question

   What are the bodies of the Solar System, where are they, what are their principal characteristics, where do comets come from, how was the absolute size of the Solar System first established, where did Earth's water come from, and how does a telescope actually work? The spec covers thirty-two points spanning the full inventory of Solar System bodies, the comet reservoirs (Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud), the Halley transit-of-Venus method for the AU, the main theories for the origin of Earth's water, and the optics of telescopes.

   Outcome

   the student can identify and characterise every category of Solar System body, describe comet structure and the orbital reservoirs, account for planetary characteristics in the spec's six-fold scheme, describe the Halley transit method for the AU, account for theories of Earth's water, and explain the optics of refractors and reflectors. *(Edexcel 1AS0 Paper 2 — Topic 11, spec points 11.1–11.16)*

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 11.1 The inventory: planets, dwarf planets, small bodies Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 11.2 Comets: structure, short-period and long-period orbits Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   3. ○ 11.3 Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, heliosphere Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   4. ○ 11.4 Principal characteristics of the planets Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   5. ○ 11.5 Gas-giant formation and current position Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   6. ○ 11.6 Meteoroids, meteorites, and the ecliptic plane Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   7. ○ 11.7 The Halley transit-of-Venus method for the AU Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   8. ○ 11.8 Origin of Earth's water Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   9. ○ 11.9 Telescope optics: objectives, eyepieces, refractors and reflectors Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   10. ○ 11.10 Origin of Earth's Water Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   11. ○ 11.11 Telescope Optics: Eye Limits, Objective, Refractor vs Reflector Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Begin the course → Print certificate of completion