Australian Astronomy

NSW

University of New South Wales

Astronomy Education at the University of New South Wales Department of Astrophysics & Optics. UNSW offers programs leading to the following qualifications:

Included within the physics degree are the following subjects:

Honours astronomy projects are also offered. For details, click here.

Three general education elective subjects are also offered to UNSW students not majoring in physics:

  • Astronomy – introduction to astronomy.
  • Are We Alone? – evolution and the search for life in the Universe.
  • Brave New World – an exploration of the relationship between Science Fiction and real world science

University of Wollongong

The Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wollongong offers an Astronomy and Astrophysics specialism within its 3 year Bachelor of Science, 4 year Bachelor of Science (Advanced) Honours and BSc Honours Year. It also offers specialist subjects within the Graduate Diploma course and postgraduate Masters and PhD research degrees.

The specialist subjects within these degrees include:

The department’s research interests drive the flavour of the coursework and projects and cover a wide range of topics including:

  • Star Formation: Young stars and stellar outflows
  • Galactic Supernova Remnants
  • Planetary Physics & Asteroid Mining
  • Theoretical Extragalactic Astrophysics

For details, contact bill_zealey@uow.edu.au

Macquarie University

Macquarie University through the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Macquarie Research Centre in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics (MQAAAstro) offers a Bachelor of Science with a major in Astronomy and Astrophysics with units spread across years 1 to 3. We also offer an extremely strong postgraduate programme at Master’s and PhD level.

Our undergraduate program offers:

  • majors in Astronomy and Astrophysics as well as more general planet units that are open to students of all disciplines and require no specialist background knowledge.
  • Planet units include ASTR170; Introductory Astronomy and ASTR178; Other Worlds: Planets and Planetary Systems. More information on planet units can be found here.
  • Our astronomy and astrophysics units include: ASTR278; Advanced Astronomy, ASTR377; Astrophysics 1; ASTR378; General Relativity and Cosmology. Unit descriptions and current guides can be found here.

We also have a number of PhD project scholarships available. More information on post graduate degree programs and projects can be found here.

For general enquiries about the MQ AAAstro Research Centre please contact our research centre administrator Ms Amanda Manypeney.

University of Newcastle

Astronomy courses conducted by the physics department at the University of Newcastle.

The Department gives a one-semester second year course entitled “PHYS210 Introduction to Astronomy“, in semester 2. It is open to all students and includes formal lectures, laboratories, tutorials, discussion sessions and viewing evenings. The course is taught by specialists from the departments of physics and mathematics. For further details contact Dr Fred Menk, Fred.Menk@newcastle.edu.au, or see the department homepage.

The Physics Department offers specialist study topics and projects in space science at fourth year and postgraduate level. These are in the Space Physics Group, which has an international reputation in its research program in physics of the Earth’s geospace environment. The Space Physics Group is a core partner in the Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems, and is developing a magnetometer to be flown on board FedSat, an Australian science satellite to be launched in 2000. The group has several opportunities for space science related projects connected with this project.

University of Sydney

The School of Physics of the University of Sydney has astronomy/astrophysics research concentrated in the Institute of Astronomy. Research areas include stellar astrophysics, solar and space physics, galactic and extragalactic astrophysics, cosmology, plasma and theoretical astrophysics, and computational astrophysics. This research underpins our teaching program.

The School of Physics offers astronomy in each year of undergraduate study:

  • Junior (1st) Year Physics – PHYS 1500 Astronomy is a wide-ranging review of astronomy aimed at interested students from all faculties.
  • Intermediate (2nd) Year Physics – Introduction to Stellar Astrophysics is a module in the unit PHYS 2013 Astrophysics and Relativity (or PHYS 2913 at Advanced level). Topics covered include the observed properties of stars and then the stellar astrophysics that can be deduced, including stellar structure, formation, and evolution. The laboratory course includes components on stellar astrophysics and emission-line spectra.
  • Senior (3rd) Year Physics – PHYS 3022 Astrophysics & High Energy Physics (or PHYS 3922 at Advanced level) covers the basic constituents of matter, the formation and evolution of stars and structure in the universe. Special projects (in PHYS 3918 or PHYS 3928) are also available, which involve working with staff on an astronomy research project.
  • Physics Honours (4th year) – A variety of courses are offered each year, but recent topics include Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics, Physics of the Standard Model, General Relativity, Solar and Space Physics and Plasma Astrophysics. Half of the Honours Program is a research project, which may be undertaken in one of the the astronomical research groups. This is an opportunity to carry out independent research in a current field, which may lead to a refereed journal publication.

For many years, staff of the School have also been active in the presentation of Astronomy courses to the general public through the University’s Continuing Education Program. In recent years, a variety of Modern Astronomy courses have been given, together with bus tours to observatories in NSW.

For more information, contact John O’Byrne (john.obyrne@sydney.edu.au).

University of New England

The Department of Physics and Electronics at the University of New England offers a second semester astronomy unit (Astronomy 221) which can be part of many degrees.

This unit describes our present understanding of the universe and how this knowledge was obtained. Topics covered include an historical perspective of the changing view of the universe and the solar system, astronomical instruments, the expanding universe and the big bang. The evolution of exotic objects such as quasars neutron stars and black holes is also be covered.

The unit is taught by distance education mode but is available to internal students as well. For details, contact Colin Sholl (csholl@une.edu.au).