Stellar astrophysics is a diverse field, encompassing such disparate topics as the asteroseismological properties of our friend the Sun, the multi-wavelength characteristics of collapsing molecular clouds and proto-stars, the theoretical modeling of the internal structures of white dwarfs and neutron stars, the statistical assembly of samples of chromospherically or coronally active late-type stars, the physics of accretion disks in binary systems, and the dynamics of star clusters in our and other galaxies. What these sub-fields have in common is a recent history of exciting discovery, which, paired with the development of new technology and techniques, continue to push the boundaries of our understanding.
Columbia faculty and researchers work on a range of problems in solar and stellar astrophysics, with interests that range from the observational and theoretical properties of compact objects, whether isolated or in binary systems, to the use of large-scale surveys at various wavelengths to identify new, interesting stars or to characterize their bulk properties.
