UCSC is one of the world's leading centers for both observational and theoretical research in astronomy and astrophysics. The department includes 24 faculty members, whose research interests range from the Solar System and the Milky Way to the most distant galaxies in the Universe and the most fundamental questions of cosmology. There are typically over a dozen postdoctoral researchers in residence, as well as a dedicated and skilled technical staff and a steady stream of visiting scientists. The UCSC department was recently ranked first in the country in research impact, based on citation studies.

UCSC is also a leader in astrophysics education. The department currently enrolls about 40 graduate students working towards the Ph.D. degree. Graduate students benefit from the low student-faculty ratio and extensive research opportunities, as well as course offerings that cover both theoretical and observational aspects of astronomy. UCSC alumni hold positions at leading universities and research institutes around the world. The department offers an undergraduate minor in Astrophysics, and collaborates with the Physics department to offer an undergraduate major in Astrophysics.

UCSC researchers have access to state-of-the-art facilities:

• Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, HI. These twin 10-meter telescopes are the world's largest and are jointly operated by the University of California, Caltech, and NASA. UC researchers receive 35% of the time. The Keck's 36-segment mirror design originated at UC, and UC astronomers have built the majority of Keck instruments. Keck data are widely used by the majority of UCSC observational students and postdocs.
• Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, CA. The Lick Observatory is owned and operated by the University of California with headquarters at UCSC. Lick was the first mountain-top observatory, built in 1888 with the 36-inch refractor, then the world's largest telescope. Current telescopes include the 3-meter Shane reflector, the 1-meter Nickel reflector, and the new 2.4-meter Automated Planet Finder dedicated to finding extrasolar planetary systems (under construction). Lick is one of the world's best sites for high-resolution spectroscopy and is a leader in developing adaptive optics. The facilities are utilized by faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows at all University of California astronomy campuses.
• University of California Observatories (UCO). UCO is a multi-campus research unit of the University of California that manages UC participation in both the Keck and Lick Observatories. Headquarters are on the UCSC campus. UCO astronomers hold joint appointments as professors in the department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and conduct research and teach in the department. The UCO Instrument Laboratories are recognized world leaders in astronomical instrumentation, including optical design, fabrication, mechanical design, and instrument control software. Students and postdocs in the Astronomy Department have access to UCO telescopes and are also welcome to participate in projects in the UCO Instrument Laboratories.
• Gordon and Betty Moore Laboratory for Adaptive Optics: Located on the UCSC campus, the Laboratory for Adaptive Optics enables hands-on exploratory research in the development of adaptive optics technology which will benefit future implementations of adaptive optics systems on astronomical telescopes. The LAO is managed jointly be the Center for Adaptive Optics and by UCO. UCSC astronomy graduate students and postdocs participate freely in LAO research.
• Thirty-Meter Telescope Project. The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) is a future large segmented-mirror optical and infrared telescope, proposed and run by a consortium made up by the University of California, Caltech, Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA). The telescope consists of 738 1.2-meter segments and, when working with adaptive optics, will make images many times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. UCSC astronomers and engineers are working on the telescope mechanical design, segment fabrication, segment support and alignment, instrumentation, and adaptive optics. Completion is scheduled for 2015. UCSC astronomy graduate students and postdocs can participate in the design of the telescope and instrumentation construction.
• Theoretical Astrophysics Santa Cruz (TASC) is a research unit spanning four affiliated departments: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Applied Mathematics.  We work closely with each other and with experimentalists, instrumentalists, and observers at the University of California Observatories, the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, the Center for Adaptive Optics, the Center for the Origin, Dynamics, and Evolution of Planets, and the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics. 
  TASC science tackles a wide range of problems, such as:   How do stars and planets form, evolve, move, and die?  Is Earth unique?  How were the elements created?  How do black holes impact the Universe?  What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy?  How do galaxies form and evolve?  How did the Universe begin (and are there other universes)?

In addition to the University of California Observatories (UCO), the Astronomy Department is also closely linked to several other astronomy research centers at UCSC:

• Center for Adaptive Optics (CfAO). CfAO is an NSF Science and Technology Center dedicated to research in high-speed optical correction techniques for optical/infrared telescopes and vision science. Based at UCSC, it involves nearly two dozen academic, governmental, and industrial partners. UCSC astronomy graduate students and postdocs are active participants in all aspects of CfAO research. CfAO also runs extensive programs in high school, undergraduate, and graduate science teaching that offer unique teaching opportunities for astronomy grads and postdocs.
• The Center for the Origin, Dynamics, and Evolution of Planets (CODEP). CODEP is part of the UCSC branch of the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP). It brings together members of the Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Applied Math, and Physics departments to study planets in our Solar System and around other stars. UCSC is a world center for the doppler detection of extrasolar planets, and active UCSC theoretical groups are modeling planet formation and the dynamical evolution of planetary orbits. The Center for Adaptive Optics builds instrumentation for direct detection of extrasolar planets via high-resolution imaging.
• Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP). SCIPP is an organized research unit within the University of California specializing in experimental and theoretical particle physics and particle astrophysics. SCIPP builds experiments for particle accelerators, including the ATLAS detector at the LHC, and detectors for satellite observatories such as GLAST. It is also pursuing applications to other scientific fields such as neurophysiology and biomedicine. SCIPP is a recognized leader in the development of custom readout electronics and silicon micro-strip sensors for state-of-the-art particle detection systems.
• Santa Cruz Theoretical Cosmology Group. The group is located in the Physics Department but has close ties with Astronomy. The group specializes in cosmological N-body and hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation and merging galaxies and supplies major theoretical support for the DEEP Survey.

The UCSC campus consists of 2000 acres of meadows and redwood forests on a dramatic site overlooking Monterey Bay and the city of Santa Cruz. The Astronomy and Astrophysics department office, the UCO/Lick administrative offices, and most faculty and student offices are in the new Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, which is shared with Physics and with Environmental Studies. Immediately adjacent is the Center for Adaptive Optics headquarters, which includes meeting space, visitor space, and additional faculty and student offices. Also nearby are the Earth and Marine Sciences building and the science library.
 

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