I'm a softmore and I'm deciding on what Major i should go for. Astronomy sounds very interesting and I enjoyed at school. My question is.. do colleges usually offer degrees in Astronomy ( espciailly colleges in California ). Hows the income for an average astronomer? Also where and what is the working life there, like do you have to live in the middle of no where?
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Astronomy As A Career?
- Thread starter Zelpher
- Start date
Sophomore, not softmore.
If you want to be an astronomer, you'll need to get a PhD in the field - there really aren't any jobs if you don't have one. That's 8-12 years of college. And if you do plan on going to grad school to get your PhD, you should be majoring in physics, not astronomy. Astronomy classes are useful too, as are math and computer science, but physics is absolutely essential for getting into grad school. You can (and should!) spend your summer doing REU (research experience for undergraduates) programs in astronomy to get a feel for astronomy as a job.
Great places to study physics and astronomy in California are Berkeley, Stanford, Santa Cruz, CalTech, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara. Most astronomers with a PhD make between $60,000 and $120,000 a year depending on where they work and how much experience they have. Astronomers work for colleges and universities, national labs and observatories, and NASA. So you could work anywhere from downtown Boston to a remote mountaintop and Chile.
If you want to be an astronomer, you'll need to get a PhD in the field - there really aren't any jobs if you don't have one. That's 8-12 years of college. And if you do plan on going to grad school to get your PhD, you should be majoring in physics, not astronomy. Astronomy classes are useful too, as are math and computer science, but physics is absolutely essential for getting into grad school. You can (and should!) spend your summer doing REU (research experience for undergraduates) programs in astronomy to get a feel for astronomy as a job.
Great places to study physics and astronomy in California are Berkeley, Stanford, Santa Cruz, CalTech, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara. Most astronomers with a PhD make between $60,000 and $120,000 a year depending on where they work and how much experience they have. Astronomers work for colleges and universities, national labs and observatories, and NASA. So you could work anywhere from downtown Boston to a remote mountaintop and Chile.
A Bachelor's level degree in astronomy will not lead to too many jobs. Some planetariums or very low level jobs at an observatory. It is also possible you could get a low level entry job in some industry related to space.
Master's level and the PhD open up much greater possibilities. Planetariums, museums, college teaching, government (weather service, military, State Dept., Agriculture Dept., Commerce Dept. and possibly others), as well as industry.
Incomes vary with degree and experience, as well as where you work, but range from a low of $25K to over $100K.
Most units of University of California offer an astronomy undergraduate major, as do CalTech, Stanford, etc. Outside California major institutions offering an astronomy degree include Univ. of Texas, Univ. of Michigan, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Ohio, and many others.
I spent 36 years of work career in astronomy (the Apollo Project, planetariums, and college teaching), and lived every day of it in New York City--not exactly the middle of nowhere. Of course, I did spend some time at Cape Canaveral for various launches, but with so many people around I never felt that was the middle of nowhere either.
Master's level and the PhD open up much greater possibilities. Planetariums, museums, college teaching, government (weather service, military, State Dept., Agriculture Dept., Commerce Dept. and possibly others), as well as industry.
Incomes vary with degree and experience, as well as where you work, but range from a low of $25K to over $100K.
Most units of University of California offer an astronomy undergraduate major, as do CalTech, Stanford, etc. Outside California major institutions offering an astronomy degree include Univ. of Texas, Univ. of Michigan, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Ohio, and many others.
I spent 36 years of work career in astronomy (the Apollo Project, planetariums, and college teaching), and lived every day of it in New York City--not exactly the middle of nowhere. Of course, I did spend some time at Cape Canaveral for various launches, but with so many people around I never felt that was the middle of nowhere either.
+Astronomy is a lot more than looking at stars. It involves studying Physics, Chemistry, Geology and a host of other sciences. If you have an aptitude for mathematics, it certainly would help. Be careful what you ask for....those guys put in long hours, don't get a lot of recognition, and have very little social life. That's the nature of being a scientist, I guess.
WestTex Kid
New member
Astronomy is definitely an interesting field of study. I'd love to study it myself. But, to put meat and potatoes on the table, I don't think it would be a good field since there isn't much demand for astronomers unless you have an advanced degree from a well respected university.
starryskyn
New member
You can contact a university or college in California and ask for information on Astronomy departments.
Some are:
USC
Caltech
UCSD
UCI
SDSU
UCLA
Stanford
UC Berkeley
Also in Arizona
ASU
U of A
And in New Mexico
NMSU
U of NM
I know someone who is getting advanced Astronomy degrees at North Dakota in Grand Forks.
Some are:
USC
Caltech
UCSD
UCI
SDSU
UCLA
Stanford
UC Berkeley
Also in Arizona
ASU
U of A
And in New Mexico
NMSU
U of NM
I know someone who is getting advanced Astronomy degrees at North Dakota in Grand Forks.