Astronomy Programs Nestled in Arizona's Santa Catalina Mountains and vibrant Sonoran Desert near Tucson, Columbia's Biosphere 2 is an extraordinary campus for hands-on exploration of earth systems science and policy, ecology, and astronomy. Columbia faculty guide you through research, course work, and field trips, as you focus on the physical, biological, and social sciences that underlie Planet Earth and the discovery of worlds beyond. Students explore the nearby University of Arizona's Mirror Lab and Flandrau Planetarium and use Columbia University's telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory. A weeklong field trip is scheduled to other observatories, as well as impact craters and volcanos in northern Arizona. Other programs focus on earth systems science, policy, and management.
Financial aid is available.
The Universe Semester, offered for both the fall and spring semesters, is an intensive program in astronomy and astrophysics for college undergraduates at the Biosphere 2 Center near Tucson, Arizona. The program is designed for 20-25 students, and carries a full semester of Columbia University credit, which may be transferrable to your college or university. Under clear desert skies, the program will be strongly based on night-sky observation, with our own telescopes as well as the large professional telescopes in the mountains near Tucson. The curriculum is ideal for astronomy and physics majors as well as adventurous liberal arts students. You can select from a variety of courses for both science and non-science majors.