Astronomy

Astronomy is the field of science dedicated to understanding the universe. Astronomy is an amalgam of physics, chemistry, and (more and more) biology that aims to describe the universe with a mixture of reasoned-out theories and empirical laws. The UMBC Observatory employs aspects of the sub-field of astronomy focused on how to make measurements of the universe from the surface of the Earth. This sub-field is ground-based Observational Astronomy.

Members of the Observatory Group use ideas from Observational Astronomy to understand processes and other natural phenomena involving comets, planets, variable stars, galaxies, and AGNs. Members of the Observatory Group also participate in ongoing projects related to the continued understanding of our system. These are projects related to collecting samples of our own astronomical seeing, limiting magnitude, and autoguiding capabilities.