Astrophysics

Overview

The Astrophysics Program from Australian National University - ANUx consists of four foundational courses in astrophysics taught by prestigious leaders in the field, including Nobel Prize winners. 

You will be taught by Brian Schmidt, who led the team that discovered dark energy – work which won him the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics, and by prize-winning educator, science communicator and astrophysics researcher Paul Francis, who will take you through an incredible journey where you learn about the unsolved mysteries of the universe, exoplanets, black holes and supernovae, and general cosmology. 

Astronomy and astrophysics is the study of everything beyond Earth. Astronomers work in universities, at observatories, for various space agencies like NASA, and more. The study of astronomy provides you with a wide range of skills in math, engineering, and computation which are sought after skills across many occupations. 

This XSeries Program is great for anyone to start their studies in astronomy and astrophysics or individuals simply interested in what lies beyond Earth.

The courses within this XSeries Program can be taken individually and in any order, but it is best to take the "Greatest Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe" course first.

What you will learn

• An understanding of the biggest unsolved mysteries in astrophysics and how researchers are attempting to answer them

• Methods used to find and study exoplanets

• How scientists tackle challenging problems

• About white dwarfs, novae, supernovae, neutro stars and black holes and how quantum mechanics and relativity help explain these objects

• How astrophysicists investigate the origin, nature and fate of our universe