About

Astronomy research at Michigan State spans the universe from stars to galaxies to cosmology. Twelve faculty members within the Department of Physics and Astronomy form the core of the astronomy and astrophysics group, and many more physicists at MSU have astronomical interests, including planetary astrophysics, nuclear astrophysics, high-energy γ-rays, dark matte,r and dark energy. Michigan State astronomers use observations from the radio to γ-ray as well as theoretical modeling and numerical computation to study the evolution of stars and galaxies. Our primary telescope is the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, a 4.1 meter telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. SOAR’s primary infrared camera, the Spartan Infrared Camera, was designed and built at Michigan State. 

Our astronomy graduate program currently has about 15 students. Recent alumni of our Ph.D. program have successfully won prestigious postdoctoral fellowships (including the Hubble Fellowships) and have permanent faculty or staff positions at a range of universities and national labs. Our undergraduate program is one of the largest in the country, with over 100 majors. We offer a number of public events, from free lectures to public observing, in addition to events at Abrams Planetarium.

The astronomy group at Michigan State began as a separate department, which was founded by Albert Linnell in 1966. This department existed until 1981, when it merged with the physics department to create the present Department of Physics and Astronomy. A list of the previous and current faculty can be found here.