Our growing group of astronomy and astrophysics faculty members carry out exciting research on the frontiers of astronomy and astrophysics. We work on the nature of dark matter, the large scale structure and expansion rate of the Universe, the relation of galaxies to their dark matter halos, the energetics of galaxy clusters, the history of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the demographics of massive black holes, the Milky Way’s stellar populations and interstellar medium, the astrophysics of compact objects, the sources of the highest energy photons, and the formation of planetary systems.
The University of Utah is a key contributor to cutting-edge survey science. Faculty play leadership roles in the DESI survey and the SDSS-IV and SDSS-V surveys, with the University being a full institutional member and the data repository of SDSS. Our faculty, postdocs, and students also use a wide range of world-class facilities in their research, including ALMA, HST, Gemini, Rubin, VLT, Chandra, NuSTAR, and XMM, and have close ties with the local gamma-ray and high-energy astroparticles group. Analysis and simulations can be performed at the University’s Center for High Performance Computing. We also run a high impact astronomy outreach program and participate in efforts to preserve Utah's unparalleled dark skies. Our faculty are committed to training a talented and diverse group of students and postdocs.
Astro Group at the U
In addition to our research, we provide courses to help graduate and undergraduate students come up to speed in cutting-edge research with our faculty.
If you are interested in interacting with the Astro Group, you can find us at the following events (listed times are for Spring 2025).
- Astro Coffee (journal club): Wednesdays, noon-1p, INSCC 345. We discuss recent astronomy papers; while this discussion tends to be at the level of astronomy grad students, undergrad and first-year grad students are still very welcome. About monthly, we also discuss topics on inclusion and equity in astronomy.
- Astro Lunch: Wednesdays, 1-2p. When the weather is warm, people usually leave from INSCC 305 for Student Union to have lunch together (some people bring their own lunch and some buy food at the Union). When it's cold, people bring food and have lunch together in INSCC 305.