Course syllabus

Welcome!

Reading instructions will be uploaded under Files/Reading instructions/ before each lecture. Prepare before each session and participate in the discussions.

 

Course-PM

SEE145 (GU course code is FAM145) Exoplanets and the solar system period 2, 2025 (7.5 hp).

The course is offered by the department of Space, Earth and Environment (SEE).

 

Contact details

  • Carina Persson, professor, Astronomy and Plasma physics, SEE, carina.persson@chalmers.se, 0768-669604: Examiner, lecturer (all lectures except lecture 2 and 3), exercise 6, and assignment 2 and 3.
  • Theo Khouri, senior researcher, Astronomy and Plasma physics, SEE, theo.khouri@chalmers.se: Lecturer (lecture 2-3), exercises 1-3, and introduction to assigment 1 and 3. 

 

Schedule overview (detailed schedule, lecture plan, and link to TimeEdit below)

Start: Monday 3 Nov 2025.
End: Wednesday 17 Dec (7 weeks).  

14 lectures: Mondays 10.00-11.45 and Wednesdays 10.00-11.45. 
6 exercises/presentations: Wednesdays 13.15-15.00 except 26 Nov since you have the afternoon off for the labor market fair (FARM).

A change to the above structure is that there will be two exercises on Wednesday 12 Nov week 2 (instead of one lecture + one exercise) and two lectures on Wednesday 19 Now week 3 (see detailed schedule below).

 

Course purpose

This course provides an introduction to our own solar system and planets orbiting other stars - exoplanets. Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered in recent decades following the development of groundbreaking instruments and facilities, particularly after the launch of several dedicated space telescopes. One of the greatest discoveries is the exceptional diversity of exoplanets where several new types of planets without equivalents in our own solar system have been discovered. The aim is to make students familiar with this new research field and gain an understanding of our own planet and planetary system in this context.

 

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives

- Describe the structure of the solar system and the fundamental properties and physical processes of the planets and moons, including calculations of the planets' orbits. 
- Have an understanding of different detection methods of exoplanets, including the possibilities and limitations of each method and basic application to observational data.
- Give an overview of planet formation theories and how these can explain the diversity of exoplanets and the architecture of planetary systems.

Content

- Introduction to stars. 
- Structure and exploration of the solar system. 
- Celestial mechanics. 
- Detection methods and challenges.
- Telescopes and instrumentation. Ground vs space-based telescopes.
- Planet interiors. 
- Surface processes.
- Planet atmospheres and atmospheric escape. 
- The diversity of exoplanets, demographics and occurence. 
- Architecture of exoplanet systems. 
- Introduction to planet formation theories.
- Habitability criteria.

 

Course design

In addition to lectures, exercises and a written exam there will be three compulsory assignments which have to be passed in order to get the final grade of the course.

 

Examination form

Exam (100% of the grade):
First exam: afternoon 12 January 2026 (4 hours). 
Re-exam 1: afternoon 10 April 2026 (4 hours). 
Re-exam 2: afternoon 19 Aug 2026 (4 hours). 

You do not have to remember any equations or constants. You are allowed to bring Physics Handbook (or similar) and a calculator. A sheet with relevant formula and constants will be attached to the exam. Notes in the handbook are allowed. 

Course literature (the books are available at Chalmers library as pdf files for download)

  • PS = "Planetary sciences'' de Pater and Lissauer, updated 2nd edition, 2015. Selected chapters.
  • EH = "The exoplanet handbook'' Perryman, 2nd edition, 2018. Selected chapters.
  • DM = "The Doppler Method for the Detection of Exoplanets'', Artie P. Hatzes, 1st edition, 2020. Selected chapters.
  • EA = "Exoplanet atmospheres, Physical processes", Sara Seager, 2010. Chapter 4.5.
  • Selected chapters in The Handbook of Exoplanets, 2nd edition 2025, editor Hans Deeg (will be uploaded to "Files/Articles/") in advance.
  • Lecture power points (will be uploaded after each lecture to "Files/Lecture PPT/").
  • Selected articles (will be uploaded to "Files/Articles/") in advance.
  • Lecture Notes on Stars and brown dwarfs (lecture 3) will be uploaded to "Files/Lecture Notes/"

Compulsory assignments (pass/not passed) 

1) Dynamics: investigate orbits and resonances with the software Rebound and Jupyter notebooks. Instructions and links to Rebound and notebooks is uploaded to Files/Assignments/Assignment 1/. Will be introduced in exercise 2. Bring your laptop. Groups of 2 - 3 students are allowed, however, you should make individual Jupyter notebooks. Introduction to the assignment in exercise 2. Deadline Friday 21 Nov. Send your Jupyter notebooks and written answers to the questions (if not in the notebook) by email to Theo (and cc Carina).

2) Oral presentation of a chosen topic to be presented on Wednesday 3 and 10 Dec. List of topics will be uploaded to Files/Assignments/Assignment 2/. You can also define your own topic. Send an email to Carina with your chosen topic who will upload a list with your names and chosen topics under Assignment2/. One student/topic. Presentation maximum 2 students / 45 min. (Depending on the number of students we may need longer sessions or an extra day.)

Upload your final presentation to Canvas to Files/Assignment 1/Presentations/3 Dec/ or 10 Dec/ or email it to Carina so she can upload it minimum two days in advance. i.e. no later than the Monday afternoon before your own presentation.

Read the presentations of the other students and prepare questions to facilitate a discussion of each topic.

3) Exoplanet detection and modeling. Will be introduced in exercise 3 by Theo who will help you to install the software. Bring your laptop. Data and instructions are uploaded to Files/Assignments/Assignment3/. Deadline 19 Dec, 2025. Send the written report to Carina (and cc Theo). Groups of 2 - 3 students are allowed, however, you will all work on your own planet system (see the list in the assignment document) and write individual reports. Send a message to Carina with your chosen system who will upload a list with your names and chosen systems under Assignment3/.
This assignment is divided into two parts:
    a) Exoplanet detection in transit photometry using the python software Lightkurve with a Jupyter notebook. Detect an exoplanet, find the planet's orbital period, and compute its radius.
    b) Perform basic modeling of radial velocities (RVs) to obtain the mass of the exoplanet studied in a) using the orbital period obtained from the transit photometry as input (Jupyter notebook).
  
Detailed schedule 

(Lecture rooms are found here TimeEdit)

First week (week 45)

Lecture 1, Monday 3 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Introduction and overview of the course. Introduction to assignment 2 (Carina)

Lecture 2, Wednesday 5 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Dynamics (Theo)

Exercise 1, Wednesday 5 Nov, 13.15-15.00: Exercise dynamics (Theo)

Second week (week 46)

Lecture 3, Monday 10 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Stars and brown dwarfs (Theo)

Lecture 4, Wednesday 12 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Exercise on dynamics and stars. Introduction to assignment 1 (Theo)

Exercise 2, Wednesday 12 Nov, 13.15-15.00: Introduction to assignment 3 and continued exercise on dynamics and stars (Theo) 

Third week (week 47)

Lecture 5, Monday 17 Nov, 10.00-11.45:  Exploration of the solar system (Carina) 

Lecture 6, Wednesday 19 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Overview exoplanet detection methods. Basics radiation. The radial velocity method (Carina)  

Exercise 3, Wednesday 19 Nov, 13.15-15.00: Detection method: Transit photometry (Carina) 

Friday 21 Nov: Deadline Assignment 1.

Fourth week (week 48)

Lecture 7, Monday 24 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Detection methods: imaging, microlensing, and astrometry (Carina)

Lecture 8, Wednesday 26 Nov, 10.00-11.45: Planet atmospheres (Carina)

Exercise, Wednesday 26 Nov, 13.15-15.00: No exercise (afternoon off for labor market fair, FARM)

Fifth week (week 49)

Lecture 9, Monday 1 Dec, 10.00-11.45: Atmospheric escape. Observations of exoplanet atmospheres (Carina)

Lecture 10, Wednesday 3 Dec, 10.00-11.45: Planetary interiors (Carina)

Exercise 4, Wednesday 3 Dec, 13.15-15.00: Oral presentation of assignment 2 (Carina)

Sixth week (week 50)

Lecture 11, Monday 8 Dec, 10.00-11.45: Surface processes (Carina)

Lecture 12, Wednesday 10 Dec, 10.00-11.45: Demography and exoplanet diversity. Architecture of exoplanet systems (Carina) 

Exercise 5, Wednesday 10 Dec, 13.15-15.00: Oral presentation of assignment 2 (Carina)

Seventh week (week 51)

Lecture 13, Monday 15 Dec, 10.00-11.45: Introduction to planet formation and migration (Carina)

Lecture 14, Wednesday 17 Dec, 10.00-11.45: Habitability criteria. Searches for life (Carina) 

Exercise 6, Wednesday 17 Dec, 13.15-15.00: Typical exam questions (Carina)

Friday 19 Dec: Deadline assignment 3.

 

Exam (100% of the grade):
First exam: afternoon 12 January 2026 (4 hours). 
Re-exam 1: afternoon 10 April 2026 (4 hours). 
Re-exam 2: afternoon 19 Aug 2026 (4 hours).