Astonomy jobs?

Question

My son loves astronomy he's 11 and says he wants to be an astronomer. So my question is What kind of jobs can you get as an astronomer? Any astronomers out there? What kind of jobs do you have? Is it a good field to get into? Any suggestions you could give to my son on the subject?

Thanks

Answer 1

Professional astronomers work for colleges/universities (teaching and/or doing research), for national labs (doing research - labs like NRAO, NOAO, NSO), for museums/planetariums (teaching/outreach), or for the gov't (NASA - research).

Unless you want to work for a museum or planetarium, you really need a PhD to do anything in astronomy. Nearly all the positions available are research jobs. So that means about 8-10 years of college.

It's a great field, but it won't make you rich - astronomers make about 60k - 120k a year. We do it because we love it. The jobs can span from theory (lots of math), computational (computer modeling), observational (using telescopes), to mechanical (building and operating telescopes and/or spacecraft).

I'd suggest that your son gets involved in a local astronomy club to learn more about observational astronomy, and take all the math and science courses he can - and to read, of course!

Answer 2

I'm not a professional astronomer, just an amature astrnomer. I'm a docent at the American Museum of Natural History here in NYC, and I do know a few professional astronomers. I've been considering making a career change for a few years now. Professional Astronomers are usually Teachers, professors and what not. Or the work at museums, as most of the truly powerfull telescopes are owned by Musuems, Universities, and Government Agencies (NASA, Airforce Etc). If your son is looking to become a professional astronomer, he will most likely need to go to grad school before he can find a real Job. There are positions for research assistants, but in today's day and age most astronomers 9-5 is to teach, and they do their research and observations during their off hours. Or if you work at a museum as a researcher you'll be spending a lot of time running lectures and the planetarium. Being part of a museum or university will give better access to equipment, but there is always a waiting line. There are grants out there, but with the war going on in Iraq a lot of them have been drying up lately. One astronomer I know nearly had his project shutdown, due to the fact that his project was based on using a Air force Telescope, that has been shutdown due to low funding during "war time".

Also if he wants to be an astronomer he'll have to be a physicist as well, and a background in earth science will help as well, as they all go hand and hand.

Best of luck
~D

Answer 3

The first answer nailed it.

Being an astronomer is not like getting hired on at a company that pays you to do astronomy. The jobs are mostly related to education.

But if he loves space there are also other routes. He can open an astronomy store (or online), he can invent new astronomy tools or computer programs, or improve on the ones out there and sell them as his own, start a big company, etc.

The point I'm trying to make is, if you get a degree in biology you don't really graduate and then get a job where you stare through a microscope. You use the degree in other related fields.

If your son is really motivated he can work at NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), or even become an astronaut.

If he wants to be an astronaut, he needs to keep his nose clean and stay out of trouble, work hard in school especially starting around 10th grade, and place a heavy emphasis on math and science. Many astronauts are former military pilots so that's yet another route he can take (same rules apply...stay out of trouble, lots of studying starting mainly at 10th grade).

Good luck to him!

Answer 4

Most astronomy jobs are teaching jobs. Carl Sagan taught at Cornell for example. Research is almost like a side job in most cases. It may be a required side job at any major university, but still not what you really get paid for. They pay you to teach astronomy classes and you apply for grants from the national science foundation or whatever to do your research projects. These kinds of positions require a PhD. At a lower level, there are teaching jobs at community colleges, where no research is required, although you may be free to do some if your like. These jobs only require a master's degree. And there are a very few jobs like observatory director or chief observer, which are really more like administrative jobs than science jobs.