Astronomy
If you’re interested in a future career in Astronomy, seeking science credits, or just captivated by the universe, enroll in ACC Astronomy courses.
Bring your fascination for the universe, galaxies, stars, planets, and comets, and enroll in Astronomy courses at ACC. During lab sessions, you can study the mysteries of space in our state-of-the-art Astronomy classroom. Learn about celestial bodies and the universe while you earn science credits that are guaranteed to transfer to any public college or university in Colorado.
Follow ACC Astronomy on:
Check out ACC's Space Grant Program
CIP 240199
Students successfully completing any Guaranteed Transfer Courses with a "C" or better are guaranteed acceptance of the course at any public four-year College or university in Colorado. The State Guaranteed Transfer Courses and the Colorado Community College General Education requirements have been incorporated into the degree. Students who complete a 60 credit-hour A.S. degree with appropriate course requirements and grades of "C" or better may be able to complete a Baccalaureate degree in 60 additional credits after transferring to a four-year public institution. Consult your ACC Advisor about Colorado's 60 + 60 agreement.
NOTE: This guarantee excludes majors in Education, Business, Engineering and Nursing.
NOTE: No course substitutions will be accepted for the Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degrees.
Admission Requirements
Program Requirements
- GT - Two Guaranteed Transfer Arts & Humanities courses from two different areas (GT-AH1, GTAH2,
GT-AH3, or GT-AH4). See GT-Pathways courses
- GT - Two Guaranteed Transfer Social & Behavioral Science courses (GT-SS1, GT-SS2, or GT-SS3).
See GT-Pathways courses
- GT - One Guaranteed Transfer course from: History (GT-HI1). See GT-Pathways courses
- GT - Two LAB course sequence in any Guaranteed Transfer Science discipline (GT-SC1) and an additional Guaranteed Transfer LAB Science course from (GT-SC1); SCI 1055 and SCI 1056 are excluded and will not satisfy this requirement. See GT-Pathways courses
Elective credit must be completed from the following lists of approved prefixes or courses to bring the total credit hours to 60.
- Any Guaranteed Transfer Course
Any course in the following prefixes except Special Topics (275) and Independent Study (285): AST (100 or higher), BIO (100 or higher), CHE (100 or higher), EGG (100 or higher), MAT (121 or higher, except 155 or 156), PHY (111 or higher), or any foreign language (111 or above).
All courses required for this degree must be completed with a "C" or better to be considered for transfer to another Colorado institution. Transferability of courses to colleges or universities outside of Colorado is determined by the receiving institution.
Graduation Requirements
- Apply for graduation online at www.arapahoe.edu/graduation.
ACC offers the following Astronomy courses for credit that are guaranteed transferrable to any Colorado public college or university.
For full course descriptions, please see the ACC Course Catalog.
ACC academic plans will help guide you through your chosen program. The academic plan will provide you with important information, like which semesters courses are offered if there are any prerequisites or co-requisites for courses, program outcomes, course sequence recommendations, notes for the program, graduation requirements, and other important information. These are updated annually, so we recommend downloading a copy of yours to keep on track to graduation.
Star Parties and Astronomy Events
Observe the night sky and explore the vastness of the universe during Astronomy Star Parties. Held multiple times each semester, the parties are free and open to the public. ACC provides telescopes.
Solar Eclipse Viewing Event
Join us on the West Lawn (Littleton Campus) on April 8 from 11:30am - 2:00pm for a Solar Eclipse Viewing event. ACC will have telescopes and viewers out to safely view the April 8 Solar Eclipse. This event will be open to the public. We will watch the sun safely and have some snacks
Astronomy Star Party
Observe the celestial bodies and explore the vastness of the universe at an Astronomy Star Party on the 3rd floor patio or M3650 (if the weather is bad) at the Littleton Campus.
- There will be no star parties for the Fall 2024 semester.
jennifer [dot] jone [at] arapahoe [dot] edu (Email) Astronomy Program Chair Jennifer Jones for information about the next event.
Space Grant Teams
ACC is affiliated with Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC) and funded by NASA. As a member of the COSGC, we have 4 student teams that design, build, and tests scientific apparatuses. We have the DemoSat Team, the Wearables Team, the Robotics Team, and the RockSat team. For more information, contact Jennifer Jones at jennifer [dot] jones [at] arapahoe [dot] edu.
DemoSat
Builds a scientific payload (portable experiment) that is launched to the stratosphere (~100,00 ft up) via a high-altitude balloon. We have a fall and spring team. The students design and build the experiment and attend launch and recovery.
RockSat
Builds a scientific payload (portable experiment) that is launched into space (~100 miles up) via a sounding rocket (a type of rocket launched from a NASA facility). We have one team per year that goes from September to the following August. Students get to travel to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in VA to test the payload and attend the launch. The students design and build the experiment.
Robotics
Builds an autonomous robot that will go the Great Sand Dunes and compete in a Challenge. We have one team per year that goes from September to the following May. The students design and build the robot. They will learn coding as well to make the robot move and navigate on its own.
Wearables
Builds a piece of wearable technology and will create a video about their creation. We have one team per year that goes from September to the following May. Students design and build a piece of wearable technology designed to solve a problem of their choice.
For all 4 teams there are stipend opportunities, award opportunities, and scholarship opportunities to members of the team.
Robotics Challenge
Check out the great work our ACC Space Grant Robotics Team has been working on.
