Lecture Schedule

#	Title	OpenStax Astronomy 2e Reading	Paired Lab/PS
01	Detecting Other Worlds: The Radial-Velocity Method	Ch. 7 (Exoplanets, descriptive only)	Lab 01 / PS 01
02	The Transit Method: Light Curves, Depth, and Duration	Ch. 7 (Exoplanets, descriptive only)
03	Complementary Detection: Astrometry, Microlensing, and Direct Imaging	Ch. 7 (Exoplanets, descriptive only)	Lab 02 / PS 02
04	Exoplanet Demographics: Occurrence Rates and the Mass-Radius Relation	Not in OpenStax; derived from Kepler/California-Kepler-Survey-era results
05	Orbital Architectures: Eccentricities, Resonances, and Migration	Not in OpenStax; derived from first principles	Lab 03 / PS 03
06	Planetary Interiors from Mass and Radius: The Composition Degeneracy	Not in OpenStax; derived from first principles
07	Atmospheric Characterization: Transmission and Emission Spectroscopy	Not in OpenStax; derived from first principles	Lab 04 / PS 04
08	Atmospheric Escape and the Evaporating Hot Jupiters	Not in OpenStax; derived from first principles
09	The Habitable Zone: Radiative-Equilibrium Boundaries	Ch. 30 (Life in the Universe, descriptive only)	Lab 05 / PS 05
10	Climate Feedback and Habitability Beyond the Classical Habitable Zone	Not in OpenStax; derived from first principles
11	Biosignature Gases and the False-Positive Problem	Ch. 30 (Life in the Universe, descriptive only)	Lab 06 / PS 06
12	Extremophiles and the Physical Limits of Life	Ch. 30 (Life in the Universe, descriptive only)
13	Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of Life	Ch. 30 (Life in the Universe, descriptive only)	Lab 07 / PS 07
14	Capstone: The Drake Equation and the Scientific Limits of Life Detection	Ch. 30 (Life in the Universe, descriptive only)

Lab Schedule

Lab	Title	Real Data Source
01	Radial Velocity and Transit Method: 51 Pegasi b and HD 209458 b	51 Pegasi b and HD 209458 b system parameters (live-verified this session, Wikipedia, 2026-09-24, citing Mayor & Queloz 1995 and Charbonneau et al./Henry et al. 2000)
02	Exoplanet Demographics: Mass-Radius Diagram and Classification	Solar-system planets, TRAPPIST-1 planets (reused from ASTR320), HD 209458 b (standard published/live-verified values)
03	TRAPPIST-1 Orbital Resonances and Interior Density Inference	TRAPPIST-1 system orbital periods and mass/radius values (reused from ASTR320's live verification)
04	Atmospheric Scale Height and Escape: HD 209458 b	HD 209458 b exosphere temperature, extent, and mass-loss rate (live-verified this session, citing Vidal-Madjar et al. 2003)
05	Habitable Zone Census: The Sun, TRAPPIST-1, and the Classical Boundaries	Kasting, Whitmire & Reynolds (1993) habitable-zone flux boundaries (standard published); TRAPPIST-1 and solar luminosities
06	Biosignature False-Positive Reasoning and Extremophile Tolerance Limits	Documented extremophile survival/growth records (standard published primary literature: Blochl et al. 1997; Kashefi & Lovley 2003; Mykytczuk et al. 2013; Daly 2009; Seki & Toyoshima 1998)
07	Capstone: Full-System Synthesis and the Drake Equation	Synthesizes datasets from Labs 01-06 into a self-chosen, instructor-approved system assessment and a personal Drake equation estimate