Declaration of a minor in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences is open to any student enrolled at CU-Boulder. Coursework applied to the astronomy minor may be applied to another major or towards General Education requirements. 

Requirements

Coursework applied to the minor may be applied toward General Education requirements or to a major offered by another department (except the Physics Plan 2 astrophysics focus major). Minimum requirements for a minor include:

  • A minimum of six ASTR courses (18-21 credits), including at least three advanced courses (numbered above 3500; 9-10 credits).
  • All coursework applied to a minor must be completed with a grade of C- or better; no pass/fail work may be applied. The GPA for all coursework completed in the minor department must be equal to 2.00 (C) or higher.
  • Students pursuing an individually structured major or a major in distributed studies are not eligible to earn a minor.
  • Students are allowed to apply no more than three courses (9 credits), including two advanced courses (6 credits), of transfer work toward a minor.
  • Many of the classes listed below have corequisite or prerequisite mathematics and/or physics courses. Students are responsible to check and meet these requisites. 

Required Courses and Credits

 The minor requires a minimum of 6 approved courses.

Elementary
Select a maximum of two courses from the following:6-8
Accelerated Introductory Astronomy 1 1
Accelerated Introductory Astronomy 2 1
Ancient Astronomies of the World
Modern Cosmology-Origin and Structure of the Universe
Space Astronomy and Exploration
Black Holes
The Search for Life in the Universe
Gateway to Space
Introduction to Scientific Programming
Extraterrestrial Life
Intermediate
ASTR 2100Fundamental Concepts in Astrophysics 2, 33
Advanced
Select one of the following upper-division course sequences:6
Planetary Sequence:
Planets and Their Atmospheres
and Planets, Moons, and Rings
Astrophysics Sequence:
Astrophysics 1 - Stellar and Interstellar
and Astrophysics 2 - Galactic and Extragalactic
Select a minimum of one of the following:3-4
Research Methods in Astronomy
Observations and Instrumentation 1
Observations and Instrumentation 2
Astronomical Instrumentation Laboratory
Formation & Dynamics of Planetary Systems
Planets and Their Atmospheres
Astrophysics 1 - Stellar and Interstellar
Cosmology and Relativity
Planets, Moons, and Rings
Solar and Space Physics
Astrophysics 2 - Galactic and Extragalactic
Cosmochemistry
Independent Study
Atmospheric Dynamics
Total Credit Hours18-21

Additional information is available from any faculty mentor. See the department's Undergraduate Studies webpage.