Join the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in our journey to promote Equity, Access, and Inclusion in Astronomy Learning.

The Youth Astronomy Network (YouthAstroNet for short) is a national, online community of youth, educators, and scientists that aims to help youth gain confidence and identity as someone who can do science through personal participation in authentic inquiry, supported by unique access to the resources of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. As a member of the YouthAstroNet community, youth in grades 5-9 engage in authentic inquiry through a number of activities such as requesting images with remotely controlled robotic telescopes, using image-processing software to enhance and make measurements of astronomical images, asking questions, and connecting science to everyday life. 

YouthAstroNet Core Principles:

The sky belongs to everyone

Curiosity and creativity inspired by big questions about our place in the universe are universal experiences.

Listen to student ideas

Student ideas, questions, cultural identities, everyday experiences, and prior conceptions are important resources for YouthAstroNet educators, and are used to make meaningful connections to content and to promote learning.

There are many ways to be a science person

Our assumptions about what scientists do, who they are, and how they work may be based on the dominant cultural norms of STEM and narrow definitions, and can exacerbate disparities in STEM engagement. In YouthAstroNet programs we challenge these assumptions and broaden ideas of who science people are.