The courses incorporate a broad range of fundamental science, including the techniques of observational astronomy, the birth, lives and death of star and the formation and development of the entire universe; in short a broad range of astronomy, cosmology, astrobiology and astrophysics; students can study how the stars form, what determines the shape and history of the galaxy, the prospects for life beyond the earth, the effects of the sun on the earth and the historical development of the science; essential skills including the investigation of topics using online resources, the use of computers in analysing and presenting scientific data and key concepts of physics and mathematics are part of the level 1 options; at level 2 students can look in much more detail at how galaxies form and interact, how their contents are governed by their pasts but also dictate their futures, how the sun is related to the other stars, and how we know all this through modern astronomical techniques; by level 3 students are looking at such fundamental physics concepts as relativity, cosmology, thermodynamics, nucleosynthesis and gravitational radiation, and applying them to astrophysical systems; learners are also independently extending their knowledge of astronomy via the collaborative investigation and individual dissertation.