Life as an Astronomer:

1. What do Astronomers Study?

 Planets
 Solar System
 Stars
 “Star Stuff” (Interstellar Medium)
 Galaxies
 AGN/Quasars
 Clusters
 Universe

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 Solar System
 Sun
 Solar Wind
 Planets
 Moons
 Asteroids/NEOs
 Kuiper belt objects
 Interplanetary dust
 etc….

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 Stars
 Variable stars
 Binary systems
 Dwarfs, Giants, etc
 Supernovae,
 Compact Objects
(black holes, white
dwarfs, neutron stars)

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 “Star Stuff”
(Interstellar Medium)
 Star formation &
Protostars
 Chemistry
 Structure, Phase, and
evolution

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 Galaxies
 Formation & Evolution
 Structure
 Populations
 Dynamics
 Environment (voids,
field, groups, clusters)

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 AGN (Active Galactic

Nuclei) & Quasars
 Formation
 Classification
 Fueling
 Evolution
 Number Density

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 Clusters
 Formation &
Evolution
 Structure
 Dark Matter Content
 Lensing

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Life as an Astronomer:
1. What do Astronomers Study?

 The Universe
 Age and Size
 Formation & Evolution
 Content (dark matter,
cosmic strings, exotic
particles)
 Topology (shape)

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Life as an Astronomer:
2. How do we Work?

 Observations  Analysis
 ground based (optical,  objectivity
near infrared, radio)  read & assimilate many
 Space based (rockets & forms of data
space platforms; UV, x-ray)  linear & non-linear
 Computers thinking
 analyze data  Writing
 solve complex  research papers
problems  proposals
 numerical simulations  presentations

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Life as an Astronomer:
3. Where do we Work?

 Academia
 Research University
 Teaching University/College
 Research Facilities
 Government Labs
 National Observatories
 Other
 planetariums, telescope
support, etc.
 Private Sector

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Life as an Astronomer:
4. How do we spend our time? (part 1 of 2)

 Academia: Research  Academia: Teaching

University University/College
 bring in grant money  teach 3-4 classes/yr
 publish research papers  advise students
 support observing  run observatory labs
facilities/instruments/  support public outreach
programs  less emphasis on research
 supervise thesis projects
 teach 1-2 classes/yr
 serve on committees

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Life as an Astronomer:
4. How do we spend our time? (part 2 of 2)

 Government Lab or  Other/Private Industry

National Observatory  planetariums
 science writing
 support user community
 telescope operators
 publish research papers
 science education
 manage people/projects
 computer programming/
 generally little or no systems support
teaching or grant raising  web design
 defense industry
 communications industry
 “rocket scientist” on Wall Street

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 Life as an Astronomer:
5. Training

H ig h S c h o o l
c o u r s e w o r k : c o lle g e p r e p
p h y s ic , c h e m is t r y , m a t h ( p r e - c a lc )
A d v a n c e d p la c e m e n t h e lp s

C o lle g e ~70 colleges/universities

m a j o r : A s t r o n o m y , P h y s ic s , A s t r o p h y s ic s in U.S. offer Astronomy
( o t h e r s p o s s ib le , e . g . M a t h , C h e m is t r y ) or Astrophysics degree
T im e lin e : ~ 4 y e a rs to B .S .
B average or better and decent GRE scores

Support:
G ra d u a te S c h o o l After M.S., attrition is mostly voluntary
Teaching or Research Assistant 2 y e a r s o f c o u r s e w o r k = > M . S . long hours, but flexible schedule
~$15,000 - $20,000/yr T h e s is r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t extensive all-expense paid travel to exotic
locations
plus tuition waiver T im e lin e : ~ 4 -6 y e a rs to P h D no or poor health and retirement benefits

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 Life as an Astronomer:
5. Job Timeline

P o s tG ra d u a te :
~10 years from High School la r g e s t a tt r it io n o c c u r s 3 - 1 0 y e a r s p o s t P h D
3 5 % le a v e f ie ld , 2 0 % " s o f t m o n e y " ,
4 5 % p o te n t ia lly p e r m a n e n t

P o s td o c to ra l A p p t: P o s td o c to ra l A p p t: Payscale:
R e s e a rc h h ir e d u n d e r g r a n t p r o p o s a l $35,000-$45,000
w o rk o n y o u r o w n re s e a rc h ~ 5 0 % o f t im e o n s p e c if ic p r o j e c t geographically limited
1 - 3 y e a r d u r a tio n ( t e r m in a l) 1 - 3 y e a r s d u r a t io n ( t e r m in a l) employment options
~16 years from no or poor benefits
P o s td o c to ra l A p p t: P o s td o c to ra l A p p t: extensive all-expense paid
High School R e s e a rc h R esearch travel to exotic locations
w o rk o n y o u r o w n re s e a rc h w o rk o n y o u r o w n re s e a rc h long hours, but flexible
1 - 3 y e a r d u r a tio n ( t e r m in a l) 1 - 3 y e a r d u r a t io n ( t e r m in a l)
schedule

S u p p o r t S c ie n t is t T e n u re T ra c k " S o f t M o n e y " P o s t io n s
w h e r e : N a t io n a l O b s . o r G o v 't L a b w h e r e : R e s e a r c h o r T e a c h in g C o lle g e w h e r e : a t a n a g r e e a b le h o s t in s tit u te
t e n u r e t r a c k o r c o n tr a c t 5 - 6 y e a r s f o r " t e n u r e r e v ie w " m a y h a v e t o p e r f o r m o th e r d u tie s a t h o s t in s t itu te
p o t e n t ia lly p e r m a n e n t p o t e n t ia lly p e r m a n e n t n o n - p e r m a n e n t . d e p e n d s o n a b ilit y to r a is e g r a n t $ $

Payscale: $45,000 - $70,000 at “Assistant” Rank geographically limited employment options

$70,000 - $90,000 at “Associate” Rank extensive travel
$90,000 - $170,000 at “Full” Rank long hours
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~22 years from High School before you know if you have a permanent position
Life as an Astronomer:
6. What Astronomers don’t do

 Tell your horoscope

 have a special line to space aliens
 memorize the constellations
 spend all their time looking through
telescopes

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Life as an Astronomer:
6. A Typical Day

 Read dozens of e-mails

 attend some inane meeting
 teach a class or advise a student on a research project
 listen to or prepare a presentation on current research
 analyze some data or make a figure or plot
 download relevant journal articles to be read “later”
 work on a paper or a proposal for observing time or
research grant

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