Department of Astrophysical Sciences

 

• Teaching college Math, English and Biology courses through the Prison Teaching Initiative (more details are here)
  
• Open Telescope evenings in the department
• Astronomy outreach with school children through Project AstroNOVA
• Teacher training through the QUEST educational outreach program
• Intensive courses on astrophysical topics given to teachers through the Teachers as Scholars  program
• A cosmology course taught to a group of senior citizens through the Evergreen Forum
• Television appearances and writing for the popular press

We also provide expertise to Astrometry.net

In addition to these initiatives, members in the department give talks in a wide variety of contexts and on a wide range of topics:

• Monthly talks to the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton by members of the department
• Talks to schools, astronomy clubs and amateur groups
• Interactive Skype talks and chats with various groups
• TED talks and online Q&A sessions (by Lucianne Walkowitz, a TEDFellow in the department)
• Public lectures within the university, and more widely

The talks cover a wide range in topics including cosmology, the expanding universe, dark energy, black holes, life in the universe, the science of the Hubble telescope, planetary astrophysics and the search for terrestrial planets and high energy astrophysics.

 If you are interested in hosting a talk at your school or institution, please email

outreach @ astro.princeton.edu.

We aim to fulfill all requests, but note that this is subject to the availability of the departmental staff.

 

 

 June 2012

Princeton welcomed around 450 members of the public for its open house around the Venus Transit. Read all about it here.

If you have never seen the planet Mercury, now is the time over the next few nights as it is visible near the horizon. Look to the west about 45min after sunset. You will see Venus and Jupiter shining brightly high in the west. They are the brightest stars in the sky.  Follow the line down towards Mercury.

This image is courtesy of Robert Vanderbei. Check out some more here!

Rashid Sunyaev, Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics and Institute for Advanced Study

hosted by the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP)

Professor Sunyaev gave an invigorating talk to the AAAP on “The next challenge for Cosmic Microwave Background cosmology: unavoidable CMB spectral features and the Black Body photosphere of our universe”