What are capstone courses, and why are they necessary in undergraduate degrees? Are they difficult to pass?

Answer 1

Not all universities have capstone courses, but many do.

A capstone course is a course for senior majors in a department. It is sort of a culminating experience for majors in that they are usually expected to read and analyze current scholarship in their discipline, and complete a substantial project in their area of study.

They are no more difficult to pass than any other senior-level (400 level) course in that discipline, but they do usually require lots of reading, and are often in seminar format, which means that regular participation in discussion is expected.

Answer 2

I'm confused here. Why don't you just get a degree in astronomy if you want to do astronomy? I would say that is your best bet. Chemistry does not play a big role in Astronomy. It does to some degree, but at most you need to know what the elements are. There aren't complex chemical interactions going on in outer space and Astronomers even have their own way of talking about chemicals which differs from Chemists. Engineering is even farther from astronomy. Depending on what type of engineering you'd do you'll spend your time taking circuit theory classes or aerodynamics neither of which are useful for astronomy unless you want to go into designing spacecraft. If you really want to do astronomy as a career, take astronomy as an undergrad. An astronomy degree will almost certainly have you taking many physics courses anyway. And if, for some odd reason, your school does not have an astronomy major, then just go with physics. You'll really miss out on the astronomy aspect, but you will look better to graduate schools if you know physics than if you know chemistry or engineering. As for the telescope, just get the largest aperature size you can within your budget. That will allow you to see the crispest details. Although a more finciancially viable option might be to get a good pair of binoculars. Those are quite good for amatuer astronomers.