Astronomy Compels the Soul to Look Upwards...
Take a journey into the worlds beyond with a closer look at the history and evolution of the universe.
During this course you will learn to use astronomical instruments such as telescopes and spectrographs, engage in hands-on labs, and identify astronomical principles during your examination of the planets, moons, sun, comets, stars, galaxies, and cosmology.
Course Offerings
- To view a listing of the Math Science and Engineering classes, click here and select a category of interest to obtain additional information.
- For a listing of classes available during each semester, visit:
Fast Facts
- Betelgeuse, the bright star on Orion's top-left shoulder, is so big that if it was placed where the sun is, it would swallow up Earth, Mars and Jupiter.
- On the equator you are about 3 percent lighter than at the poles, due to the centrifugal force of the Earth spinning.
- The atmosphere on Earth is proportionately thinner than the skin on an apple.
- On Mercury, one day (the time it takes for it to spin round once) is 59 Earth-days. One year (the time it takes to orbit the sun) is 88 days - that means there are fewer than 2 days in a year.
- If a piece of the sun the size of a pinhead were to be placed on Earth, you could not safely stand within 90 miles of it.
- Its estimated that the number of stars in the universe is greater than the number of grains of sand on all the beaches in the world. On a clear night, we can see the equivalent of a handful of sand.
(Sources: Astronomy for Beginners, NASA)