Astronomy is the study of celestial objects, including stars, planets, galaxies and moons. Wesleyan's unique astronomy program blends coursework with the opportunity to work one-on-one with an active research faculty employing professional-quality telescopes, instrumentation and computers to investigate areas of current astronomical interest.
Well prepared in technical and communication skills, Wesleyan astronomy majors go on to the best graduate programs in the country, as well as to a variety of rewarding careers both in and out of the field of science. B.A./M.A. and M.A. programs are also offered.
What You'll Study
- Because Wesleyan also offers a master's degree program, as an undergraduate you'll have the opportunity to work with graduate students as well as with faculty as part of an active research group.
- Research at Wesleyan includes star formation, extragalactic X-ray sources and X-ray background, exoplanets and the interstellar medium, high-mass X-ray binary populations and statistical challenges in high energy astrophysics, and planet formation.
- Most astronomy majors spend time observing with a 0.6 m telescope and CCD camera, used to study young star-forming regions and transiting exoplanets. You might even get a chance to travel to observatories in Arizona or Hawaii, or work on data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA).
