Should I major in Astronomy? Does anyone have any advice or info?

A

Any Day Now

New member
I am about 2/3 of the way done with my BS in Software Engineering. Recently, I have found my calling and it happens to be Astronomy. I would rather work in this field then in Software Engineering. I looked at SDSU as my choice in school. My only concern is the availability of jobs. I am the provider for my family and do not want to get into something that will not take care of us. Does anyone have any advice on whether or not I should go into Astronomy or any info on jobs? Appreciate it, thanks!
 
Of course you should (but as an astrophysicist I think everyone should! :D), and with the background in software engineering chances of finding a job in the field improve dramatically. A lot of work is done nowadays with huge software systems, and they are under constant development. Look up headas, ciao, aips++, starlink, MIDAS, IRAF, just to mention a few.

That said, I agree with others: take a lot of physics and mathematics and be prepared for a long slog through graduate school. Not that it won't be fun!
 
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