Penn State Astronomy & Astrophysics

The department of Astronomy & Astrophysics is involved in a variety of observational, experimental and theoretical activities, covering almost the entire gamut of modern astronomy and astrophysics research. These range from extra-solar planet studies, thorough investigations of stellar systems, high energy astrophysics, the most distant galaxies to the Universe as a whole. With its depth and breadth in research opportunities, Penn State offers an attractive pathway leading to a career in research and teaching in this field.

The Astronomy and Astrophysics department offers most of the graduate courses in this field, complemented by related courses in the other physical science departments. The department has twenty five faculty members, including affiliated members in Physics, and more than twenty five additional PhD level researchers. There are a further dozen faculty pursuing related activities in other Departments and Colleges; the Astrobiology program being one example. One measure of the impact and level of our activities is indicated by Penn State ranking fifth in space science citations per paper over the previous five year period, as reported recently by Thomson Scientific ISI .

Departmental facilities include the 8-meter Hobby-Eberly telescope, the Chandra ACIS experiment, the Swift multi-wavelenght GRB mission, the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, Center for Astrostatistics, Center for Particle Astrophysics, and the Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry, all at Penn State, and major roles in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the IceCube neutrino detector, the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory, and various other space and ground-based projects.

The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics has one of largest undergraduate service course programs for non-majors in the country along with a highly competitive Astronomy & Astrophysics undergraduate majors program that regularly sends our graduates on to the top graduate programs in the country. We are particularly proud of the opportunities we offer for undergraduates to participate in front line research.

Recent News & Events

Probing Question: What are Shooting Stars?

April 2008—In the early morning darkness on April 15, 1912, as the R.M.S. Titanic was sinking in the freezing Atlantic, survivors witnessed a large number of streaking lights in the sky, which many believed to be the souls of their drowning loved ones passing to heaven.

Says Kevin Luhman, what they most likely were seeing was the peak of the Lyriad meteor shower, an annual event occuring in mid-to-late April. Read More

Created on 08/21/2006 09:02 AM by administrator
Updated on 05/02/2008 03:58 PM by administrator

Announcements

Superbright Explosion is Most Distant Object Ever Visible to the Naked Eye

20 March 2008—A powerful stellar explosion -- a gamma-ray burst -- has shattered the record for the most distant object that could be seen with the naked eye and also ranks as the most intrinsically bright object ever observed by humans in the universe. The explosion was detected on 19 March 2008 by NASA's Swift satellite, which is controlled by Penn State from its Mission Operations Center at University Park. Read More

Neutron Stars Join the Black-Hole Jet Set

4 February 2008—A team of astronomers has discovered a neutron star emitting an extended stream of powerful X rays, marking the first time such an extended X-ray jet has been detected originating from any class of object other than black holes. "This discovery shows that the unusual properties of black holes -- such as the lack of an actual surface -- may not be required to form powerful X-ray jets, as was previously thought," said Penn State Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Niel Brandt, one of the scientists on the team that made the discovery with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Read More Read More

Rapidly Whirling Black Holes Discovered Spinning at Near Maximum Speed

10 January 2008—A new study using results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provides one of the best pieces of evidence yet that many supermassive black holes are spinning extremely rapidly, according to a research team led by a Penn State astronomer. The whirling of these giant black holes drives powerful jets that pump huge amounts of energy into their environment and affects the growth of galaxies. Read More

Powerful New Sky Surveys to Explore Dark Energy, Milky Way Galalxy, and Giant Planets

10 January 2008—A team of scientists will announce on 10 January 2008 the beginning of a new multi-year survey -- the third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey -- which will use a suite of new instruments to investigate a wide range of scientific topics. Read More