Designing Science Fiction Planets

Science fiction writers craft entire worlds and physical laws with their minds. While planetary formation in the real world is a little different, we can use fantastical places and environments from film, television, and literature as conversation starters to discuss real discoveries that have been made about how planets form and evolve over time. The class will focus on the following overarching questions: (1) What conditions are required for habitable planets to form? (2) What types of planets may actually exist, including desert worlds, lava planets, ice planets, and ocean worlds? (3) What kids of life could inhabit such diverse worlds? (3) What types of catastrophic events such as supernovas, asteroid impacts, climate changes can nurture or destroy planetary habitability?