The heart of this course examines the planets themselves, and reveals how they are constructed and how they differ from one another. By studying the physical astronomy of all the planets in the Solar System, we can attempt to understand their true nature. Ultimately, these lectures will bring us to a greater understanding of the Solar System’s creation, which brings us again back to the beginning and what it means to us as we look outward from our rotating Earth.

Professor James B. Kaler is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his B.A. in Astronomy from the University of Michigan in 1960 and his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1964. He has been at Illinois ever since. His research area, in which he has published over 120 papers, involves dying stars, specifically the graceful shells and rings of gas ejected in stellar death called "planetary nebulae." He has held both Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, and has been awarded medals for his work from the University of Liége, in Belgium, and from the University of Mexico. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.