Jobs in astronomy

[george7378]

Hi everyone,

I am doing my GCSEs at the moment, and I have chosen Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry for A-level, and I am interested in a job in the space (specifically astronomy) sector, but I haven't a cluse as to what kind of jobs are available in astronomy.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

[AstroTiger]

I think once your degree is over you will need to consider a Phd in astronomy which often provides a grant (as i am given to understand it)

Once that is over a postdoc is often the next stage, however jobs in astronomical research as i understand it are becoming more scarce.

The safest thing is to do a physics based degree which will equip you with more skills.

That said there are professionally qualified astronomers on here who are probably better placed to answer this.

[george7378]

Thanks for the guidance,

I have chosen physics as my first priority for A-level, and was thinking of studying at University and degree level. What would being a professional astronomer involve?

Thanks.

[Capricorn]

This pops up once in a while and the answer is probably not what is wanted.

Astronomy is not a "practical" job. You don't spend the time looking at the stars or DSO's etc.

I was at the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy some weeks back and was talking to 2 people studying astronomy, both 2nd yr Phd. One was researching into Exoplanet detection the other was studying Galaxy Super Clusters. Further "work" in astronomy will be research if either was offered a place at IoA or elsewhere afterwards and took it up.

When either people "looked" through a scope it was to gain information/evidence for their research. The other area being lecturing but it is a case of lecturing to aid in the support of research or tutoring others in their research.

Most astronomy is theoretical. Taking Stellar evolution as a topic, you are not going to be around long enough to see if your theory/research is correct. Even less chance for Galaxy evolution. A lot these days will be computer based.

People have produced computer models of galaxy collisions, think that there are 6 on Galaxyzoo at present, takes a few minutes to run on the PC but a few million/billion years in reality. So again theoretical and computational.

See you are in Lincolnshire, any chance of you getting to Astrofest? May be worthwhile talking to UCLAN.

[callump]

As mentioned, there are not a huge number of career opportunities in Astronomy, as such.

The main career, is a research astronomer in the university environment. And there are a variety of 'jobs' available, both from theoretical work, observational to backup theory, and instrumentation (building instruments to work on the back ends of telescopes, or in spacecraft), or telescopes themselves.

There are a smaller number of jobs available in science centers and places like the Royal Observatory, where astronomers are employed for outreach type activities.

I am glad to hear of your choices for A-Level - I would say maths and further maths are essential if you want to study physics / astrophysics to degree level.

There are a number of universities that offer astronomy or astrophysics as part of their physics or maths degree courses, which would be interesting to do... UCAS website would help to identify those.

Outside of Astronomy, you will find lots of astronomy/astrophysics graduates in a wide range of careers, like electronics, computing, geophysics, banking - so even if you decide that you won't go further there will still be a huge number of interesting career opportunities available.

/callump

[part timer]

In the first instance you have taken the correct first steps!

You will need to go to university and gain a degree in a subject such as Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy or in a related field.

(I could note here that some other sciences such as Chemistry and Geology may lead to Astronomy by a more convoluted route)

You will then have a better idea of what you want to do.

A Phd is essential and this is now sadly a bit harder to get now (it was never easy!) as there is less funding and more competition as more graduates who would have entered other fields are trying to stay in education to increase their chances of getting a job.

Then there will be a much stiffer competition for a career in Astronomy as there are very few jobs in professional Astronomy.

The main advice is work very hard during you education and at each step choose what you feel you enjoy the most as I can guarantee that you will have most success this way!

Good Luck!!

[AstroTiger]

To add to the above, i was speaking to a Phd student at Herford University who was completing her thesis in astronomy.

She as with other Phd trained astronomers i have met all said the same thing, the challenge after getting a Phd is getting a research post afterwards.

The issue here to being that the government is making severe cuts, science might be effected by this.

The biggest challenge is getting post doc work once your thesis is complete, these roles are rare and competition for them is high.

you might of course get into science writing as many seem to, or work as a general science publicist.

Your other option might be to get qualified here then head to the states.

A good degree in physics could lead to astronomy, failing that electronics, computing.

One to consider might be do the astronomy degree but learn a programming language or two at the same time, its something to fall back on.

One thing is for sure, once qualified it is something noone can take from you :-)

Another suggestion, why not go onto facebook and chat to some of the astronomers in the herford university group. I should imagine this is the best place to start :-)

[Macavity]

You might get a feel for UK science policy... and occasionally the underlying science from:

Welcome to the Science and Technology Facilities Council

A generic Physics degree would be a good start, flexibility a useful continuing attribute.

[Space Bat]

You could consider a job which has a tie in with Astronomy....but has nothing to do with it

For example - I am the test manager for a company that manufactures Vibration test solutions that test anything from mobile phones to rockets and satellites.

I have been to the european space testing center in Holland ESTEC (Mind blowing) and and we have worked with projects involving NASA and other space exploration agencies throughout the world.

Our equipment has been used to test the Mars rovers and this years launch of Herschel plus many more...

ESA - Space Engineering - Electrodynamic shakers - images

Chris

[JamesK]

Hey, you're picking the exact same A-Levels as me! Altough I'm thinking of maybe doing Psychology as a breadth subject over Chemistry, I'm not sure yet. Physics is definatly my no.1, but when I told my dad was doing Futher Maths he said "Isn't there enough Maths in Physics and Maths for you?" Don't think I'm cut out to be a researcher though. Good luck with wour life!

[Rosanella]

This thread is most interesting and hope to see more thoughts on the subject.

I'll get my daughter to read it as she's planning to embark on the Astrophysics trail at University. But I'm also interested because I'd very much like a career change

[Guest]

Juts for interest a long time ago I did a degree in Astronomy with the standard A levels at the time (Maths , Physics and for some reason geography). I ended up working first in Seismic exploration and later in reservoir simulation for oil production. Many of my colleagues have degrees in Astrophysics. Although there may not be many full time jobs in astronomy it is always worth taking the degree as the physics and maths you do there will open many doors even if you do not do a full time job in astronomy (and as many have pointed out there are not many of those going around and even less if the government keeps on with the cuts in science it is promising to pay the bankers)

Owen

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Hi,

Indeed, you have taken the right first steps. I actually studied astronomy (have an MSc in Astronomy from the Kapteyn Institute here in Groningen, the Netherlands). The study is mainly physics applied to astronomy. Because of this, you can get a jog practically anywhere, in astronomy or outside of it. In astronomy itself you would be pursuing a career in academia (chasing grants, doing research, teaching), but these jobs are rare.

Somehow I got sidetracked into digital image processing and got a PhD in Computer Science, looking at intestinal bacteria, applying much of what I learned on imaging in astronomy to fluorescence microscopy. I now work as a senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Groningen, and back into astronomical image and data analysis (among other cool stuff like 3D MRI and CT analysis). One track of research we are starting is automatic scanning of terabyte data sets for peculiar galaxies, and automatic recognition of overlapping vs merging galaxies. Great fun.

My advice would be: if you have the talent in physics and maths, follow your heart and let no-one (but yourself) sidetrack you by saying there are no jobs in astronomy. With an MSc or BSc in astronomy there are many options open to you. If you get good grades and show creativity, there are many grants available, although you must be prepared to travel abroad (I did my BSc thesis research in the Arcetri Observatory in Gornergrat, Switzerland overlooking the Matterhorn).

Best of luck!

Michael