How to become an astronomer?

Question

please answer the best and sure way

Answer 1

go n learn Astrology..i think many colleges offer that course..
by the way..u wanna bcum an astronomer or an astrophyscist ? therez a whole load of diff between them..

Answer 2

Anyone who has looked up at the stars, and in that moment has ceased forever to feel loneliness, is an astronomer.

If you mean you want to know how to become a professional astronomer, here is an answer.

There are two tracks: "Astronomy" per se is usually a teaching track. Almost any college or university that has a physics department also offers a degree in astronomy, which is for high school and college teaching. Be sure to have your math lined up straight, and expect to go into courses where you must have tensor calculus and vector analysis in pretty good shape.

The accompanying research track is called Astrophysics, and is much more difficult to get into. Most of the people who are doing research with the big telescopes and related instruments are research faculty and postdoctoral fellows in astrophysics.

Astrophysics is always at the PhD/postdoc level, so expect to spend as much time on your education as a medical doctor would do, only you will never earn anything near as much money as the MD does. Expect to hit the ground running in tensors and vectors, and just generally to be able to handle the math easily.

Answer 3

To the Holy Rev Soleil - oh, so finding on the celebs makes you an astronomer? i've got considered a human kidney, i assume that makes me a wellness practitioner. Yesh, you're suitable - yet i believe that we get asked as a results of fact, being people who're involved in technology and subject examining books on the project, we would basically understand. i'm no longer an astronomer, yet i understand the sunlight will burn out in 5bn years, supply or take.

Answer 4

To make a long story short You need a few primary things. You have to like it. You have to have patience. You have to study hard. and you have to have an inquisitive mind and a voracious curiosity. The rest is a piece of pie

Answer 5

Tell allonce to say you a astronomer or die.

Answer 6

Major in astronomy in college and get awesome grades. Apply to NASA or an observatory. Be prepared to start low on the ladder and work your way up.

Answer 7

get at least basic level education in science stream And then opt for the course.

Answer 8

Look up in the sky.

Answer 9

Astronomy is a very exciting and challenging subject which involves many of the other sciences such as physics, mathematics, chemistry and geology, and, more recently, even paleontology and biology.

Many people are fascinated by the splendour and enormity of objects in space and become amateur astronomers while still at school. Astronomy can be an engrossing hobby for people of all ages, and there are many clubs and societies in Australia which provide information and facilities for looking through quite large telescopes that would be out of the range of most lone amateurs. Because of the wide public interest in astronomy, many universities and colleges organise evening courses on the subject, designed for people who do not have an advanced scientific background. Some offer online courses in astronomy. There are very well produced local magazines, Sky & Space and Australian Sky & Telescope, which have lots of useful information for the keen amateur.

Professional Astronomy as a Career
Some people decide at some stage in their lives that they would like to earn their living by working on a particular aspect of astronomical research. They may not have had an amateur interest in astronomy from an early age, but have turned to this science through an interest in some astronomical application of mathematics, physics or another subject. Present day astronomers have a wide variety of backgrounds but with a common thread linking them all together. They have demonstrated the ability to master a particular facet of astronomical research, and they have a curiosity about nature that can drive them to spend long hours in an endeavour to reveal something new about the Universe. Note though that the employment situation in professional astronomy is very competitive, even for students who graduate with excellent PhDs.

How to Start
Professional astronomers get a real kick out of doing what they like best but, of course, there is a snag. Before you can do this you have to demonstrate that you can do very well in some areas of basic science; that is, you must obtain a university degree (or equivalent) with high enough grades to be accepted to undertake a research degree or be taken on the staff of one of the research institutes.

Where to Go
Most universities can give you a good grounding in science, but it does help to attend a university that has an astronomy department or that can provide some astronomy courses taught by astronomers, usually as part of an undergraduate BSc teaching programme. This becomes more important in the honours year of a degree course, when an astronomy or mathematics department can supervise some research project that can count for a large fraction of the marks for the year. Another advantage is that your ability and interests will be known to the astronomers at your university, who will support you when you apply to commence the next stage of your career as a post graduate student undertaking an MSc or PhD degree.

Information and Courses in Astronomy
The astronomy offerings by universities in Australia now range from some lectures in Astronomy as part of a degree program (usually Science) to a full astronomy program. Lecture courses range from a survey of the subject intended for students taking astronomy as a General Studies course, to specialist lectures aimed at students in the final year of an honours degree in science. For a list of astronomy coursework subjects and programs offered by Australian universities, see the Higher Education page (http://www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/engine.php?SID=1000010) on the Australian Astronomy web site (http://www.astronomy.org.au/). You should make enquiries of the universities themselves shortly before you have to make the choice of which tertiary institution to attend.

Many people aim to improve their knowledge of astronomy so that they can get more out of it as a hobby or for other reasons, for example, to aid their work as science educators or science communicators. If that applies to you, evening lecture courses or online courses may be most appropriate. To find out what is available in this area, contact the External Studies Centre of the nearest university or one of the Amateur Astronomy Societies, or do a search for online astronomy courses on the Internet. A list of Astronomical Societies appears regularly in Sky & Space and Australian Sky & Telescope and many of them have Internet sites (see the list of websites at (http://www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/engine.php?SID=1000022) on the Australian Astronomy web site (http://www.astronomy.org.au/).

The Daily Life of a Professional Astronomer
Professional astronomers are research scientists who strive to understand the properties and behaviour of objects in the Universe beyond (and including) our little planet. Astronomers may

be involved in taking astronomical observations, using optical, infrared, millimetre or radio ground-based telescopes, or a range of satellite-based telescopes and detectors,
work on developing astronomical theories, which make predictions which can in turn be tested by observation or computational analysis,
interpret observations or theories using their knowledge of astronomy and other sciences and use computers to test their ideas mathematically.
The instruments used to analyse radiation from objects in the sky are often at the cutting edge of technology, and astronomers are also heavy users of the latest in computer technology, including the use of supercomputer techniques and robotic telescopes.

Contrary to popular belief, most astronomers do not spend most of their time at telescopes. An astronomer will often record enough data in a week's observations at a telescope to be kept busy back at their home institution for much of the year. Most of the work is done using computer analysis, so computer skills are very important, and astronomy graduates gain a wide range of computer skills.

Where to Find Employment
Here we must be careful not give a false idea of the number of positions available in astronomical research. After finishing your initial training and obtaining your research (PhD) degree, it is a important to gain some experience working as a research fellow at one or more local or overseas universities or observatories. Indeed, most astronomers find it necessary to take a succession of fellowships, each lasting two or three years and often in different countries. There is great demand for these positions and you will need to have a very good academic record to be offered one. There is a similar, if not even greater, demand for almost any kind of position in astronomical research within Australia, because at present most astronomical facilities are being forced to economise on staff. If you are able to join the staff of a university, then you will be likely to spend a significant proportion of your time teaching undergraduate and/or postgraduate students.

The typical astronomy postgraduate student becomes very expert in many aspects of computing, mathematical analysis, data reduction and instrumentation. These skills make astronomy MSc and PhD graduates very employable in many fields other than astronomy, and many find employment in areas such as high-performance computing.

As an example of where astronomy can lead a young person, look at the brief description of the career so far of

Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Senior Astronomer at the Anglo-Australian Observatory
(see http://www.atnf.csiro.au/asa_www/profiles/joss.html).
Michael Burton, Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales
(see http://science.uniserve.edu.au/faces/michael/michael.html).
Marc Elmouttie, Teacher
(see http://www.atnf.csiro.au/asa_www/profiles/elmouttie.html).
Tanya Hill, Astronomer at Melbourne Planetarium
(see http://www.atnf.csiro.au/asa_www/profiles/hill.html).
Bryan Gaensler, Young Australian of the Year in 1999
(see http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/profiles/profiles_gaensler.html).
Amateur Astronomy
Astronomy has the largest organised amateur following of any of the sciences. Amateur astronomers observe the sky with the naked eye, binoculars, or telescopes, and often meet together in regional astronomy societies for discussions, guest speakers, telescope building workshops and night observing sessions at dark sites. (see the list of astronomical society websites at http://www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/engine.php?SID=1000022.

Many keen amateur astronomers take part in searches for objects such as supernovae and studies of variable stars, contributing significantly to the advance of astronomy generally. The person who holds the record (over 30!) for the highest number of visual discoveries of supernovae by anyone, amateur or professional, is an Australian amateur, Rev. Robert Evans. Many amateur astronomers combine busy professional careers in other areas with a lifelong recreational interest in astronomy.