The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Harvard University Department of Astronomy

Our department is young in spirit but has a century-old tradition of exceptional graduate students and faculty. Our teaching and research interests span the entire Universe with exciting observational and theoretical programs in cosmology, extra-solar planets, transients, star formation, black holes and high-energy astrophysics.

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Projects

AstroAI

Atomic and Molecular Physics, High Energy Astrophysics, Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Radio and Geoastronomy, Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences, Theoretical Astrophysics, Harvard University Department of Astronomy, Science Education Department, Central Engineering, Director's Office, Chandra X-ray Center, Institute for Theoretical Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, Institute for Theory and Computation

AstroAI is a institute dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence to enable next generation astrophysics at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Learn More

Physics of the Primordial Universe

Harvard University Department of Astronomy, Institute for Theory and Computation

The Big Bang theory of cosmology successfully describes the 13.7 billion years of evolutionary history of our Universe. However, it is known that the current Big Bang theory cannot self-consistently explain its initial conditions. We are interested in finding out what caused the Big Bang, and the physics involved in this primordial epoch. We study physics, build models and propose observables for the primordial universe using quantum field theory, general relativity and/or string theory, and test them with data from astrophysical observations.

The Galileo Project

Harvard University Department of Astronomy

The Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts

The H3 Stellar Spectroscopic Survey

Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Harvard University Department of Astronomy

The H3 Survey is answering the question: how did the Milky Way Galaxy grow and assemble over cosmic time? To answer this question, a group of scientists at the CfA and the University of Arizona are mapping the outer limits of the Galaxy with >200,000 stars observed with the 6.5m MMT telescope in Arizona.