The center is an interdepartmental organization coordinating teaching and research in space science and astrophysics. Much of the current information regarding research groups, current seminars, and other up-to-date information can be found at the Astronomy Program web page.
Members of the CSSA are drawn from:
In the School of Humanities and Sciences:
Physics,
Applied Physics, and
Statistics
in the School of Engineering:
Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Electrical Engineering, and
Mechanical Engineering
in the School of Earth Sciences:
Geological and Environmental Sciences
as well as:
the W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory
the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Research now in progress covers a wide field and is approached in a variety of ways, including experiments flown on rockets, satellites, and space probes; ground-based observations made from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, the Wilcox Solar Observatory, and from national observatories; and theoretical research including computer modeling. Topics currently being studied include the technical aspects of space projects such as guidance and control, planetary sciences, ionospheric and magnetospheric physics, solar-terrestrial phenomena, solar physics, stellar structure, infrared astronomy, x-ray and extreme ultraviolet astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, high-energy astrophysics, theoretical astrophysics, gravitation theory and experiments, cosmology, and the study of life in the universe.
Some of these projects involve collaboration with scientists at the Lockheed-Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab through the Stanford-Lockheed Institute for Space Research, the NASA/Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute.
Stanford is a member of the Universities Space Research Association, a consortium of universities which operates the Lunar Science Institute in Houston, Texas, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and the San Diego Supercomputing Consortium.
Stanford is the lead institution for the EGRET experiment at the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Solar Oscillations Investigation on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft (SOHO), and participates in the Soft X-Ray Telescope program on the Japanese Yohkoh spacecraft.
Stanford is also a member of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Consortium which has constructed a 10-meter telescope at the McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas. The telescope is undergoing commissioning as of January 1999.
The facilities of the center are available to any interested and qualified student, who must be admitted by and registered in a department. The Departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, and Physics offer opportunities leading to an M.S. or Ph.D. degree for work in space science or astrophysics. The center also offers opportunities to undergraduates who may, for instance, participate in research projects in their junior or senior years, either on a part-time basis during the school year or on a full-time basis during the summer. The Astronomy Course Program operates a small student observatory where students may gain practical experience in astronomical observing.
Further information is available from the Astronomy Program webpage.