The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is a community guided by a sense of our history. In the University of Chicago tradition, we are driven by the pursuit of big questions: from the origin of planetary systems and existence of life beyond Earth, to understanding the physics of collisions of black holes and neutron stars. We shape new fields of inquiry by bringing together laboratory astrophysics, state-of-the-art computing, and multi-messenger observations to study the most extreme and mysterious environments in the Universe. These bold investigations prepare students in our academic programs, and early career scientists on postdoctoral fellowships, to make the breakthrough discoveries and technical innovations of their generation.
We welcome you to take a virtual tour to learn more about us.
