Teaching Astronomy at the UCM Observatory

Departamento de Astrofísica, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Abstract

There is a long tradition on teaching Astronomy at the UCM University. Since 1972 it is possible to study Astrophysics at the Faculty of Physics of the UCM. The facilities of the UCM Observatory are improving continuously every year. Nowadays two domes (4 m) are available. The west dome is mainly used for doing solar observations while the east dome is generally used to do night observations. The available instruments allow us to make a small-scaled reproduction of how people work in a large observatory. At the UCM Observatory students of the Astrophysics career do many different kinds of exercises based on the current techniques used by professional astronomers. In addition, during the last years of the career they also have the opportunity of doing a research work under the supervision of a professor.