Thank you for your application for CERT/ Astronomy Cert/UCLAN Preston

[sanmatt]

Oh god what have I done??? eeeeekkk

Someone do it with me, I'm scared, hold my hand (don't knock me scope though)!!

But ohh how exciting!

[reddoss]

It will be fun. Starting a new course is always exciting.

Good luck.

[sanmatt]

And scarey.

I struggle enough to get me head round what I ask on here haha

But I am looking forward to it, shame it's so far away. October is AGES!!

[sanmatt]

Oh crikey I've just seen these

Astrophysics Research Institute - Liverpool John Moores University

They start a lot sooner too...should I have shopped around a bit more do you think?

[Ian123]

Wish you all the best, i'm sure you'll be fine.

[sanmatt]

Thanks Ian.

I think there might be a few form here doing the same thing, hopefully we can set ourselves a little thread up somewhere to talk about stuff.

[Slick]

I was looking at this course yesterday and trying to persuade myself to do it, may well take the plunge.

[sanmatt]

Do it!

It does look very good and there's a couple more I'd love to do but far too chicken to do more than one per year!

[Slick]

Application filled in.

[sanmatt]

You star! We can hold hands and sob together.

I'm dreading it! BUt equally excited too

[Jiggy 67]

Have you got a link to the one you're doing, I'm looking for a course myself. Thought this one looked pretty good from John Moores

[Slick]

just checked out the textbook for the course...£46:(

Universe: Amazon.co.uk: Roger A. Freedman, William J. Kaufmann: 9780716795643: Books

[Slick]

I'm hoping, in the long run to do the full degree course, should manage it by the time I retire:)

[sanmatt]

Jiggy - its this one: University Certificate in Astronomy Course

I saw the JMU course too, after I'd applied for the other doh!

[sanmatt]

just checked out the textbook for the course...£46:(

Universe: Amazon.co.uk: Roger A. Freedman, William J. Kaufmann: 9780716795643: Books

The used books are a lot less though. I'm going to get one thats battered and scribbled all over - it'll be cheaper!

[sanmatt]

http://www.studyastronomy.com/uploads/files/studyastronomy_module_catalogue_19dec2011_revised.pdf#AA1051

snort bloodyhell what a larf this is going to be! *cacks pants*

[Ian123]

seems....err.....thorough...

[sanmatt]

I must be bonkers, it won't even count towards my CPD for work, I want to get chartered and astro stuff wont mean jack. Argh, damn my hubby for buying me a fab new hobby at Christmas!

But what we have to remember is that it is only a 1st year module.

[thegreendruid]

I too signed up for the astronomy module at UCLAN but also chose to do the cosmology one too. Can't wait for October. I'm hoping to do the full BSc in the coming years!

[jonathan]

So... what does one actually do with an astronomy certificate or degree? I imagine the job opportunities that require one are somewhat limited.

And if it has ANY physics or maths in it what so ever then that would be me straight out of the door!

[sanmatt]

It wont do anything for my particular career, I'm in biomedicine so nothing whatsoever to do with astronomy. So for me this is just for my personal learning.

But Jonathan it's only a first year module - so usually it will be 18 yr olds fresh for being spoon fed at school doing this, so we ought not to be bombarded with heavy maths and physics at this stage.

[thegreendruid]

Undertaking a degree in Astronomy will give you a solid grounding in many areas of physics which could lead to doing a masters or PhD in nuclear physics, theoretical physics, particle physics etc etc.

From this, the job opportunities will be massive in the future as technology becomes more and more a part of people's lives. People with physics degrees will be required in many fields from launching and monitoring satellites to nano technology in computer chips to research into making nuclear fusion a viable option for the Earth's future energy demands.

For me, this first step is highly exciting. I don't have a plan for what to do if and when I complete the degree but I know that whatever I end up doing, having done Astronomy will stand me in good stead.

I believe many of the level 1 (1st year equivalent) modules are fairly straight-forward maths-wise. Apart from the 'Energy, Matter and the Universe' module which teaches the required maths needed to progress to level 2 modules. Once you start on level 3 modules, I expect that you will have covered a fair bit of maths in order to study relativity and extreme states of matter etc

I'm so excited to start, I can't wait!

[JamesF]

There's something that appeals about the idea of doing a degree in Astronomy. As the school where my wife works is looking for people to reduce their hours or take redundancy however, I think perhaps adding another drain on our finances right now may not be the right decision.

Shame. It looks like it could be fun, even if it does take six years. Would there be any jobs for fifty year olds with BSc.s in both Computer Science and Astronomy, I wonder?

James

[jflowers]

Shame. It looks like it could be fun, even if it does take six years. Would there be any jobs for fifty year olds with BSc.s in both Computer Science and Astronomy, I wonder?

James

I would love to do it and would then be the same as I have a BSc in Computing But I fear its just too much money for the luxury for me. I will have a shop around though to see what my options are

[Mansnake]

It would be quite cool to have a Doctorate in Astronomy.

im looking at this course but its either pay for the course or save for a scope.....i think ill choose the latter for the time being.

Im only 27 so have a few years left in me yet !

Good luck though to all who are doing it !