Start Astronomy & Physics: High School Student's Guide

[ScienceGurl]

I am a high school student right now (11th grade) and I am really interested in studying Astronomy and Physics. I asked my Astrophysics teacher if NASA has Astronomy jobs, and I believe he said that it would lean more into Physics or "Astrophysics" And he said that they look for people with Doctorate degrees. I'm like...Oh dear. :P But I am scared that I won't be able to get some sort of job at NASA that I really want or at Kitt Peak or get into college! Any advice?? Do you know of Colleges that teach that stuff??

 

[Laura1013]

I am a high school student right now (11th grade) and I am really interested in studying Astronomy and Physics. I asked my Astrophysics teacher if NASA has Astronomy jobs, and I believe he said that it would lean more into Physics or "Astrophysics" And he said that they look for people with Doctorate degrees. I'm like...Oh dear. :P But I am scared that I won't be able to get some sort of job at NASA that I really want or at Kitt Peak or get into college! Any advice?? Do you know of Colleges that teach that stuff??

Hi ScienceGurl,

In modern society, a professional astronomer is the same thing as an astrophysics. The field uses physics to describe astronomical events. NASA does hire some civil servants as astronomers/astrophysicists, but mostly they employ contractors through universities and science-related institutes. A scientist who wants to receive funding from NASA will usually apply for a grant under a specific project. According to the talk I heard on Tuesday by the NASA Astrophysics Division Chief, NASA's astrophysics budget is around 9% of its total budget, and that is expected to remain consistent for the next few years.

In the United States, there are over 100 colleges/universities that grant astronomy or astrophysics degrees. Much more common are colleges that grant physics degrees but also conduct research and offer classes in astronomy/astrophysics. Check out the websites for any college you're interested into see if their program matches your interest. You have lots of choices!

A doctoral degree is a common requirement for most astronomy/astrophysics positions. There are jobs out there in the astro field that do not require a Ph.D. Since you're still in high school, I would recommend you wait until you have some college experience before deciding if you want to pursue an advanced degree.

This webpage may help you get an idea of what an astronomer/astrophysicist does: http://www.astromiror.org/research.html#astro . Most of those interviewed work for or with NASA, and all of them are female.

Good luck! And don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it!

Laura


Edited to fix a typo.

 

[Poop-Loops]

At my school, an astronomy degree is basically a physics degree but with like 5 or so astronomy classes added in. It's pretty standard for people to double major in astronomy and physics. I was going to do it... but I couldn't stand the professor... he ruined my love for astronomy. :(

So if this is something you are interested in, you should see if the universities you are applying to have something similar.

 

[richard14]

Hi ScienceGurl,

In modern society, a professional astronomer is the same thing as an astrophysics. The field uses physics to describe astronomical events. NASA does hire some civil servants as astronomers/astrophysicists, but mostly they employ contractors through universities and science-related institutes. A scientist who wants to receive funding from NASA will usually apply for a grant under a specific project. According to the talk I heard on Tuesday by the NASA Astrophysics Division Chief, NASA's astrophysics budget is around 9% of its total budget, and that is expected to remain consistent for the next for years.

In the United States, there are over 100 colleges/universities that grant astronomy or astrophysics degrees. Much more common are colleges that grant physics degrees but also conduct research and offer classes in astronomy/astrophysics. Check out the websites for any college you're interested into see if their program matches your interest. You have lots of choices!

A doctoral degree is a common requirement for most astronomy/astrophysics positions. There are jobs out there in the astro field that do not require a Ph.D. Since you're still in high school, I would recommend you wait until you have some college experience before deciding if you want to pursue an advanced degree.

This webpage may help you get an idea of what an astronomer/astrophysicist does: http://www.astromiror.org/research.html#astro . Most of those interviewed work for or with NASA, and all of them are female.

Good luck! And don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it!

Laura

good advice laura

 

[Zenparticle]

CAREER RESOURCES
Want to Work at NASA?

NASA is more than astronauts. We are scientists, engineers, computer programmers, personnel specialists, accountants, writers, maintenance workers and many, many other kinds of people. At the NASAJobs Web site, you can review job listings, post a resume and even apply for a NASA job online.

At NASAJobs students can find opportunities for internships, cooperative programs and summer employment.

For all the diversity of NASA's workforce, the question, "How can I become an astronaut?" is very common. The answer depends on where you are now and where you want to go.

If you haven't finished high school yet, former astronaut Dr. Sally K. Ride has these suggestions for you:

"The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry, and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut. I think the advice that I would give to any kids who want to be astronauts is to make sure that they realize that NASA is looking for people with a whole variety of backgrounds: they are looking for medical doctors, microbiologists, geologists, physicists, electrical engineers. So find something that you really like and then pursue it as far as you can and NASA is apt to be interested in that profession."

ref- http://www.nasa.gov/about/career/index.html

 

[Poop-Loops]

Kind of on a tangent: to be an astronaut, you need to be in good physical shape too, right?

 

[ScienceGurl]

Kind of on a tangent: to be an astronaut, you need to be in good physical shape too, right?

Yes indeed. I am not planning on becoming an astronaut, plus I'm reaaallly not in shape for it. Plus I think I would be to scared :P But I still want to work at NASA anyways. Thanks you guys for all your advice and suggestions. :)

 

[mgb_phys]

An astronomy degree isn't a requirement for an astronomy PhD.
Astronomy ugrad degrees are basically physics with a few extras. If your dept has a telescope the practicals are interesting but don't really match what you will be doing on a profesional 10m telescope.
I did ugrad astronomy+physics but was the only person in my grad school that did - most were physics/maths.

Even if you don't stay in astronomy you learn the same physics as everyone else and are very employable.
I have worked for biotech companies doing protein imaging = bright dots on a dark background = using the same software I developed for astronomy.
Then doing AI database mining = equaivalent to the data sets size I used to generate from an IR camera.

If you do radio astronomy there are lots of jobs in radar/radio - at one point it seemed that everyone in the military radar business had done PhDs in my dept.

 

[cristo]

An astronomy degree isn't a requirement for an astronomy PhD.

This is very true. My undergrad degree is in maths, and I'm studying for a PhD in astronomy (well, it's really cosmology, but astronomy is the broad title). I also know another person who studied maths undergrad and is now doing a PhD in observational astronomy!