Astronomy is a small, but vibrant, department within the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The Department has an outstanding record of research and teaching achievements. Astronomy at the University began within the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the 1960s, and became an independent Department in 2000, after more than 30 years of steady growth and progress.

The undergraduate and graduate degrees offered by the Department of Astronomy are unique among public univer sities in New England. Students throughtout New England are eligible for admission under the auspices of the New England Regional Student Program. The Department of Astronomy is also part of the Five College Astronomy Department, an inter-institutional partnership that combines the resources of a large public research university and that of four prestigious, private liberal arts colleges.

Faculty and researchers within the Department are involved in a variety of research activities, including observational, theoretical and instrumentation endeavors. Two central research themes within the Department are the study of the formation and evolution of structure in the universe and the study of the interstellar and intergalactic medium. The Department currently operates two facilities: the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) 14-m telescope located in Massachusetts, and the Infrared and Optical Telescope Array (IOTA) located in Arizona. The Department also has an active program in astronomical instrument development at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The Department also led the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), which mapped the entire sky in three infrared wavelength bands. The Department is in partnership with Mexico to build the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT). The LMT is a 50-m diameter millimeter wavelength telescope under construction atop Sierra Negra, a 15,000 foot high volcanic peak located in central Mexico.

Please browse our website to learn more about the educational and research opportunties within the Department of Astronomy.