الفلك والفضاء

The Department of Astronomy and Space is one of the most modern scientific departments in the College of Science

/ University of Baghdad. It was established in 1998, and since then the department has started granting a bachelor’s degree, and the department has awarded master’s and doctorate degrees in various and varied specializations in the field of astronomy and space sciences.

The department qualifies its graduates to work in all fields related to this specialization, such as specialized research centers, astronomical observatories, and scientific care centers. A graduate of the Astronomy Department is also qualified to work in the field of various applications of software sciences.

 The tasks performed by the department

Doing teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students in his field of specialization. In addition to preparing research and theoretical and observational studies in various astronomical subspecialties using the available monitoring and analysis means, in coordination and cooperation with observatories and international organizations, identifying future astronomical phenomena and their impact on life on Earth, conducting laboratory studies to develop and design attached monitoring devices and preparing programs for analyzing and processing astronomical information.

As well as the scientific contribution in determining the beginnings of the lunar months.

Graduate qualifications

The Department of Astronomy and Space of the College of Science – University of Baghdad is the only department of its kind in Iraqi universities that grants an academic degree in astronomy and image analysis. The curricula developed by specialists in this field make the graduate of the Department of Astronomy possess a sufficient amount of information and skills that qualify him to work in many different fields, including in the field of astronomical observations, digital image analysis, remote sensing, space sciences, in addition to possessing a sufficient amount of information Which qualifies him to be a good teacher or educator in the subjects of astronomy, physics, mathematics, and computers, which qualifies him to work in various research and scientific institutions . The outstanding graduate qualifies to complete his higher studies in the same department and in one of the following fields: astronomy, space, image analysis, remote sensing.

 The history of the Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences

The Department of Astronomy and Space is one of the most modern scientific departments in the College of Science / University of Baghdad. It was established in 1998 and since then the department has started granting a bachelor’s degree, as the number of graduate students since the establishment of the department until the last academic year 2012/2013 reached about (173) students. It qualifies the department’s graduates to work in all fields related to this specialization, such as specialized research centers, astronomical observatories, and scientific care centers. A graduate of the Astronomy Department is also qualified to work in the field of various applications of software sciences. The most important objectives of the Department of Astronomy is to teach and supervise undergraduate and graduate students in the field of its specialization. In addition to preparing research and theoretical and observational studies in various astronomical subspecialties using the available monitoring and analysis means, in coordination and cooperation with observatories and international organizations, identifying future astronomical phenomena and their impact on life on Earth, conducting laboratory studies to develop and design attached monitoring devices and preparing programs for analyzing and processing astronomical information. As well as the scientific contribution in determining the beginnings of the lunar months. The Department of Astronomy held several seminars and seminars within the department, where specialized lectures were given in the fields of astronomy and space, satellites, communications and digital image processing, in addition to public educational lectures in the field of astronomical observation. The department has formed research groups for all specializations, inside and outside the University of Baghdad. In order to activate the scientific movement of the affiliates, so that each group is headed by one of the department’s professors who holds a doctorate, and the members of the group hold a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree, according to the specializations and scientific interests, and they are responsible for conducting relevant scientific research with the participation of all members of the group. Postgraduate studies, PhD and MSc, were opened in the Department of Astronomy in 1998, where many students graduated from graduate degrees in various astronomical disciplines, and it is the only department that grants these certificates at the country level. The country was in that period and was reopened again in 2007-2008 and for masters only, according to international curricula and modern specializations.

Finally, I cannot fail to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the masters who have preceded me in taking the honor of heading the department since its inception and who have the credit for what the department has achieved in terms of its scientific status and built the infrastructure for its future development, namely:

A.M.D. Grace Lafta Jaber Al-Wasiti 1998-1999

A.M.D. Iyad Abdul Aziz Al-Ani 1999-2003

A.M.D. Ali Talib Muhammad 2003-2011

A.M.D. Kamal Muhammed Abboud Dia Al-Din 2011-2015

Mr. Dr. Bushra Qassem Naqib 2015-2018

A.M.D. Ban Abdul Razzaq Abbas 2018 until now

Services provided by the department to the community

  • Monitoring, following up and photographing astronomical events and phenomena, especially the crescent moon and the eclipses of the moon and the sun.
  • Organizing introductory courses, lectures and seminars on astronomy, space, remote sensing and atmospheric science 
  • Organizing visits to schools, universities and scientific bodies to the department’s headquarters and the locations of educational astronomical observatories, as well as organizing astronomical observational and educational trips and camps that contribute to providing the community with the latest developments and important astronomical events.
  • Providing the community with graduates holding a bachelor’s degree in astronomy and space sciences with the title of Research Associate, where they can work in observational astronomy laboratories, reflecting telescopes, astronomical refractors, and equipment attached to the telescope for astronomical imaging and others, as well as working in the field of electronic computers in all scientific institutions.
  • Providing the community with qualified teachers to teach in the various universities of Qatar in the fields of astronomy, space, digital image processing, as well as in the field of astrophysics, computer and mathematical modeling.
  • Participation in research and scientific conferences, exhibitions, and local and international astronomical observations, especially for graduate students, masters and doctorates, to follow up on the great scientific development in astronomy and space sciences.
  • Providing the community with the necessary astronomical information when designing buildings to determine their directions and measuring the difference in the positions of the sun and moon, and providing people living outside cities such as sailors and Bedouins with timing and knowledge of the four directions.

Graduates’ future 

The Astronomy Department of the College of Science – University of Baghdad is the only department of its kind in Iraqi universities that grants an academic degree in astronomy and image analysis. The curricula developed by specialists in this field make the graduate of the Department of Astronomy possess a sufficient amount of information and skills that qualify him to work in many fields, institutions and companies, such as astronomical meteorology, digital image analysis, remote sensing, space sciences, meteorology, and qualified to work in the ministries of communications Science, technology, industry, agriculture and the environment, in addition to his eligibility to be a good teacher or educator in the subjects of astronomy, physics, mathematics, and computers, which qualifies him to work in various research and scientific institutions. The outstanding graduate qualifies to complete his higher studies in the same department and in one of the following fields: astronomy / space / image analysis / remote sensing.