Can we cover all of astrophysics in 10 weeks? We can not. Are we going to give it our best shot? Absolutely. We go from atoms to stars to galaxies, from the Big Bang to the end of the Universe. (We do not, sadly, study exoplanets or or solar system.)

One of my favorite things about this class is a recent effort to tie in primary sources - reading the papers (or at least excerpts) that were some of our foundational results leading to the current state of astrophysics.

These are really two flavors of a similar class - or at least classes with similar goals. These courses give students a chance to synthesis all the ideas and techniques they’ve used into developing projects, making observations, writing analysis code, and writing up scientific papers.

ASTR 480 is a 10 week course that goes from helping us remember our basics about how to navigate the sky, to designing and executing a research project (most likely using ARCSAT, our 0.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory.)

ASTR 581 is an intensive 3 week course that supports graduate students getting a hands on observing experience. We learn our way around telescope systems, write proposals, practice evaluating each others work and ideas in a constructive way, and even get a chance to observe with the APO 3.5m telescope

What ethics do we carry with us within the context of our jobs? What does it mean to be a scientist? Or to be an ethical scientist?