Institute for Astronomy
From our Sun to the Universe
Astronomy uses observations of the Universe to refine and develop our understanding of fundamental physics, and uses physics to understand the Universe and our place in it. We seek to discover fundamental facts about our Universe, to share them with the public, and to train the next generation of Swiss astronomers to carry on this mission. Past activities have focused on investigations of our own Sun as an astrophysical laboratory. Our current strongholds include, the observation of distant and nearby galaxies, the development in our understanding of the nature of dark energy and dark matter, and the formation and evolution of structure in the Universe over vast reaches of cosmic time; our studies of star and planet formation also serve to understand the conditions for the emergence of Life. These fields of competence are identified as areas of strategic development in the Roadmap for Astronomy in Switzerland (CHAPS, 2007) and in the Science Vision for European Astronomy (ASTRONET, 2007). Switzerland's memberships in the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and European Space Agency (ESA) allows us to use the most powerful Earth- and space-based telescopes and to participate to the development of future ones, such as the NASA/ESA 6.5m James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the ESO 42m European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).
More on the web page of the Institute for Astronomy
credits: NASA