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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Astronomy

Undergraduate Courses

The Department of Astronomy offers over fifteen courses on various aspects of astronomy. The 1000-2000 level courses are aimed towards students interested in learning a general view of astronomy as a whole but not necessarily interested in majoring in it. These courses can be taken to fulfill some of the General Education requirements by the College of Liberal Arts.

The 3000-4000 level courses are aimed towards students majoring and minoring in astronomy, as well as other physical sciences such as physics, geology, mathematics, or engineering. Each upper-level course focuses on a specific field within astronomy and astrophysics. All of these have prerequisites; see the course descriptions in the Undergraduate Catalog for more information. Non-astronomy students interested in taking these upper level courses should talk to the astronomy undergraduate advisor for approval.

  • AST 1002 – Discovering the Universe (P)
  • AST 1022L – Astronomy Laboratory (P)
  • AST 2000 – Cosmology
  • AST 2003 – Introduction to the Solar System (P)
  • AST 2037 – Life in the Universe (P)
  • AST 2730 – Introduction to Python for Physical Sciences
  • AST 3018 – Astronomy and Astrophysics 1 (P)
  • AST 3019 – Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 (P)
  • AST 3043 – History of Astronomy up to Newton (P or H, and N)
  • AST 3722C – Observational Techniques in Astronomy 1
  • AST 4723C – Observational Techniques in Astronomy 2
  • AST 4211 – Essentials of Astrophysics
  • AST 4300 – Galactic Astronomy
  • AST 4402 – Galaxies and Cosmology
  • AST 4905 – Individual Work
  • AST 4911 – Undergraduate Research in Astronomy (individual)
  • AST 4930 – Special Topics in Astronomy
    • Astrobiology
    • Computational Techniques
    • Exoplanets
    • Machine Learning
    • Neutron Stars and Black Holes
    • Python Programming for Astrophysics
    • Star and Planet Formation
  • PHZ 3152 Advanced Computational Techniques
  • QUEST courses:
    • Are we alone? Searching for ET Life
    • Knowledge and the Universe
    • Nature of Time
    • Stars and the Nuclear Arms Race
    • The Art and Science of Astrophotography

The majority of the 4000 level courses are offered on a two-year cycle (i.e. once per two years).