The Astronomy Program

Studying the Stars at Pomona

View a powerpoint presentation summarizing the astronomy program at Pomona College here.

The Astronomy Program offers a B.A. in physics with an astronomy option. This course of study has been effective in providing our students with the experience needed for future careers in astronomy and astrophysics research, as well as industry. We also offer a minor in astronomy, and a degree in Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences in collaboration with the Geology department.

Pomona College offers the astronomy program jointly with Harvey Mudd College, which allows us to offer a wider range of upper-division astronomy courses not usually found at small colleges. Current offerings range from literary courses such as "Archaeoastronomy & World Cosmology" to heavily mathematical courses such as "General Relativity". One of the most popular courses on campus, "Life in the Universe", covers topics such as astrobiology and water on Mars.

In the past several years our graduates  have gone on to PhD programs in Astronomy and Astrophysics at such places as U. Michigan, U. Minnesota, U. Colorado, U. Massachussets (Amherst), Cornell U., Dartmouth U. and U. Wisconsin.

More information on our degree program may be found in the text of our  astronomy brochure while pictures of our facilities, telescopes and some student-made astronomical imagery may be found in the colorful portions of our brochure.

For information on the program, observatories or classes, please contact Dr. Bryan Penprase, the program director, or Dr. Alma Zook, the Physics and Astronomy department chair.

Questions about Brackett Observatory and the Millikan Planetarium should be directed to Mr. Alper Ates, our astronomy technician.