This Experiential Education course includes travel during Project: Pomfret, with an additional associated fee. Financial aid may be available.

Travel to: California 
Cost: $3,600
Certificate Pursuit: STEM

Explore the cosmos from the surface of the Earth to the edge of the Universe in this year-long, Honors level course. The curriculum follows the traditional ‘zoom out,’ and by the end of the year, students have a strong survey-level understanding of all sub-fields and topics in astronomy. The fall term covers the planets and stars, and labs include a scale model solar system and measuring the circumference of the Earth. The winter focuses on astrophotography, data collection, processing, and famous observatories to understand DSOs, Deep Sky Objects. The winter term ends with an Experiential Education trip to California to measure the effect of sky brightness on astronomy data collection from the light polluted skies of Los Angeles and the coast to the darkest skies in the US in Death Valley. When students return in the spring, they will process the trip data and then explore the history of Cosmology, the study of the entire Universe. Exotic topics will be covered in the final weeks, including black holes, relativity, the Big Bang, and the end of the Universe. 

Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors, with priority given to seniors and juniors. Students who have already taken Astronomy I, II, and III are not eligible for this course. Departmental approval is required.