Eastern’s Astronomy program brings science and faith together through rigorous study and hands-on research with state-of-the-art facilities in our Observatory and digital fulldome Planetarium. Students aspiring to a career in Astronomy will discover a challenging array of courses taught in physics, math, computer science and astronomy designed to encourage growth in not only knowledge but faith as well. Outside of taking courses related to Astronomy and the Physical Sciences, students can also minor in Astronomy.
The Astronomy faculty strives to challenge students to achieve excellence in all they do. From research grants to publishing papers, presenting papers and innovative classroom lectures, the faculty lead by example. While your focus will be in astronomy and astrophysics, we hope that the education you leave with will enable you to succeed in fulfilling God’s purposes for your life.
Academic Programs
Faculty Publications
Dr. David H. Bradstreet ’76 releases Star Struck, Seeing The Creator in the Wonders of our Cosmos
In the newly released book STAR STRUCK, SEEING THE CREATOR IN THE WONDERS OF OUR COSMOS Astronomy Professor and Department Chair Dr. David Bradstreet joins award-winning author and journalist Steve Rabey to give readers a tour of stars, planets, comets, dark matter and discoveries all within the framework of God as creator. Listen to Dr. Bradstreet discuss the book and read more.
Dr. David H. Bradstreet authors chapter in The Story of the Cosmos - How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God
This engaging anthology by 13 Christian scholars in various fields explores how the authors see God in the universe through the work that they do. Dr. Bradstreet's chapter is an in-depth layman's view of eclipsing binary stars and how we determine stellar characteristics by watching how the stars dance around each other, appropriately titled "The Glorious Dance of Binary Stars." Explore the book on Amazon.
Student Research Opportunities
Students work closely with professional astronomers and participate in publishable research, and present papers at professional meetings. Competitive summer research opportunities are available.
Jensen Okimoto, graduating THC senior, along with William Schwartz ('14 THC graduate), Steven Sanders (Previous Observatory Administrator), and David Bradstreet (professor of astronomy) were all co-authors on this work, which highlighted two overcontact binary star systems observed and analyzed for the first time using Eastern's observatory. The two stars of one of the binary systems appear to have only recently come into contact with each other, a rare event to capture, and will be studied at Eastern for years to come.