Frequently asked questions

For high school students, college students and lifelong learners. High school students use it to get ahead in astronomy early and to prepare for college or for competitions. College students take it as a supplement to their studies. Lifelong learners, among them many amateur astronomers, use it to learn about space in depth. The Foundation masterclass suits a first contact with the subject; the Advanced masterclass goes on to stellar structure, black holes, exoplanets and active galaxies.

Yes. A new unit is scheduled for every Monday, but once you have submitted the quiz of a unit you can ask for the next one ahead of schedule, from your dashboard or from the email we send you. The earliest moment is 24 hours after the previous unit was sent. We recommend the weekly rhythm, because the material needs time to settle, but the pace is your decision.

Nothing is lost. The next unit is only sent once you have submitted the quiz of the current one, so the program waits for you. You can pause for a week or for a term and continue at any time. There is no penalty and no deadline.

School mathematics up to powers, roots, simple equations and basic trigonometry is enough. Unit 1 refreshes every tool the later units use: scientific notation, units, angles, logarithms and the physics of motion and energy. The later units of the Advanced masterclass use simple calculus and explain each step.

On Monday you receive the unit by email, as a web page and as a PDF. A day later we send further reading, including current research papers that are free to read. During the week you study the unit and take the open-book quiz of ten questions. After you submit it, you see your result with explanations, and the next unit follows on the next Monday.

After the last unit you sit the final exam online: 50 multiple-choice questions across all units, drawn individually for each participant, with a time limit of 60 minutes. It is open book. You pass with 70% correct answers. If you do not pass, you can try again after 3 days with new questions, up to 3 attempts in total.

A certificate as PDF with your name, the program and the units you completed, and a transcript with your score in every unit quiz and in the final exam. Both carry a verification ID. Anyone you give the ID or your personal verification link to, for example a university, can confirm the certificate on our website.

The program is fully online and has no live sessions, so it works in every time zone and next to school or work. You receive the units by email and read them on the website or as PDF. Quizzes and the final exam are taken on the website.

The masterclasses build on each other. Foundation contains units 1 to 8, Advanced contains units 1 to 12, and Advanced + Cosmology contains all 16 units, with four further units on cosmology and current research. The tuition fee page lists the units of each masterclass.

The tuition fee is paid once, online, by card through Stripe. There are no further costs. Because the program starts and the first unit is delivered immediately after you confirm your details, the fee is not refundable once the program has started. If something went wrong with your payment, write to us and we will sort it out.

No. You enter your name when you start the program, and it is printed on the certificate exactly as entered. Please check the spelling carefully at that point.

Look in your spam or promotions folder first and mark our address as safe. Every unit and every quiz can also be opened from your dashboard after signing in. If something is still missing, write to info@aamasterclass.org.