在过去的几十年中，最古老的科学天文学一直是现代科学研究中最令人兴奋的领域之一。地面和太空望远镜仍在继续寻找有关太阳系，恒星，星系和宇宙起源的新发现。要理解和追求现代天文学，必须在物理学和数学以及天文学方面都有扎实的背景。由天文学系管理的天文学物理专业为大学生提供了一个机会，使他们能够在发展必要的物理和数学背景的同时，欣赏我们对天文学宇宙的当前理解。
Astronomy, the oldest of the sciences, originated in the human urge to understand the mysterious lights we see in the sky above us — the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars. Over the centuries, new tools have become available to study these cosmic icons — telescopes that allow us to see further and fainter, detectors that are sensitive to electromagnetic signals at non-visible wavelengths, and satellites that can observe from outside the confines of the Earth’s atmosphere.