Center for Astrophysics
The Center for Astrophysics combines the resources and research facilities of the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory under a single director to pursue studies of those basic physical processes that determine the nature and evolution of the universe. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution, founded in 1890. The Harvard College Observatory (HCO), founded in 1839, is a research institution of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, and provides facilities and substantial other support for teaching activities of the Department of Astronomy. The long relationship between the two organizations, which began when the SAO moved its headquarters to Cambridge in 1955, was formalized by the establishment of a joint center in 1973.
The CfA’s history of accomplishments in astronomy and astrophysics is reflected in a wide range of awards and prizes received by individual CfA scientists. Although their Sun is an ordinary star, the Solar System is the only planetary system known to harbor life. Studying the Solar System enables them to learn how stable planetary systems form and how planets develop the conditions needed for life. They think they know how stars live and die, but our picture of how stars form to begin with is incomplete. Although astronomers have discovered well over 160 planets in other solar systems, they do not really know what conditions actually produce life.
For more information, please visit http://www.cfa.harvard.edu