Career Research Paper

BY: Tristan Swartout

As the famous TV star William Shatner once said (in his Capt. James T. Kirk persona) Space the final frontier, where no man has gone before! This quote we all know is inaccurate in todays society, since many astronauts have gone in space. But even as advanced as we are, the universe still has many mysteries unsolved and many phenomena that we dont even know of yet. As a young adult with a keen eye in astronomy I would like to become an astronomer to help solve the mysteries of the Universe. Mysteries even fictional Captain James T. Kirk couldnt solve. To begin, what is an astronomer? An astronomer is someone who studies many things that make up the universe. There are astronomers out there discovering new planets, while some are tracking the magnetic fields Voyager 1 &2 go through, and some are just trying to explain the formation of the universe for the last 14 billion years. What people dont realize is that there are multiple branches of astronomy. The big divider between astronomy is an Astronomer and Astrophysicists. An astronomer is someone who studies and collects data on many aspects in the universe and can be divided into multiple categories as well. An astrochemist studies the chemical abundance of stars and planets. An astrobiologist studies for life around the universe. Astrophysicist studies the physics aspects of the universe. They look at data an astronomer collected and try to figure out what causes this occurrence. An example is an astronomer discovers a new supernova and collects data overtime on multiple characteristics of it. The data may then be viewed by an Astrophysicist who will look at the laws of physics and apply them to a theory.

No matter what branch of astronomy you are in, you will deal with the same aspects. Many astronomers study one area of the universe for days, weeks, or even years! You may be on a team studing a distant quasar or a team watching the cameras on the mars rover Curiosity. These long studies on certain subjects involve a lot of math, doing experiments on models and simple thinking for long amounts of time. When a group of astronomers are done and have came to a conclusion they will publish it as articles to magazines and websites. Other groups may counter, and try to find reasons how the data collected is invalid and the errors the team didnt account for. To be an astronomer or really any scientist, you must be ready for criticism; it is just a negative you must ignore. Astronomers face all kinds of working conditions. One week you may be at the Mauna Kea observatory station. And then next week youre in a cramped room studying a video of mars. What most people dont realize is; an astronomer spends little time at the telescope. Only 10-30 days are they actually out in the field. The rest of the time is usually spent analyzing the data collected and forming a conclusion. Some astronomers work as professors teaching students at universities. Astronomers also work on computers for long amounts of time out of the year; this is because of computers being used so much in this field for creating models. You may be with the same astronomy team for months and grow close bonds with your teammates. The hours for this job can be short or long. If you go on trips to national facilities you could be gone for weeks from home. While close to home the average astronomer will work 8 to 10 hours a day. With astronomy involving looking into the night sky, these work hours may be during the night instead of during the day. Becoming an astronomer requires lots of years of school; studying the subject and most people end up getting a PhD or the minimum MD in it. This may sound hectic; but is well worth

it because the average astronomer makes an average of $46,000 to $153,000 a year! The average pay per hour is a little over $50. The median pay for an astronomer working in the United States is $105,000. An astronomer working as a professor on average is paid less but still above the American average at $43,000 to $131,000. As stated earlier, astronomy is one of the hardest career pathways to get a degree in. Starting in high school; a student should take math and science courses. The student shouldnt only take the core classes but should also take advanced classes, such as calculus and physics (and astronomy if possible). Extra courses that would help greatly are computer and technology, social sciences, and humanity. When entering college you will need to continue math, science, and computer classes to be able to get a degree. Almost all job opportunities require a PhD. To start most college students will first get a Bachelor of Science degree in physics or astronomy. To get a high end job you must then get your masters and then make your thesis to get a PhD in astronomy. Most astronomers with PhD wont stop their; for a high end job you must get your discoveries published in article of magazines and newspapers to attract high up employers. Some businesses and 2 year colleges will accept a masters degree. Small jobs like planetariums and museums will even hire someone with a bachelors degree. But as I said earlier a PhD is the best route to go to get a strong stable job. Usually all this schooling takes about 8 to 10 years for a PhD. And once done astronomers may join small group that may help large groups with data and forming conclusions. These articles may then be published, and individuals and groups will get more publicity in the astronomy world and slowly become known. It may take several years, before you get the chance to be part of a large group or even get to go to a convention. Some individuals may always be stuck in the amateur status. You must work hard and publish your stories if you can, if you want to become a true astronomer. Most astronomers start as a Post

Doctoral Researcher then after time becomes an assistant professor at a university. They then become an associates professor and finally a tenured professor. Advancing in each of these stages could take only a few years or take as long as decades. Astronomy has many organizations. An example is the American Astronomical Society, which consist of some of the most important and professional astronomers out there. Other well known societies are Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the well known Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii. And of course the most famous of all the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA by what the average person calls it. Without NASA many of our famous discoveries would have never being known. Marss surface would be unknown, the famous pictures by Hubble Telescope never made, and Voyager 1 & 2 would never have left the Solar System. When actually working as an astronomer, you must enjoy your job and keep a positive view. With all the theorizing and long hours; having a job in astronomy can get very stressful and can even cause emotional breakdowns and physically exhaust you. Get good amounts of sleep when able, and takes breaks often. If working with a group, make sure to be very social and have good communication with your teammates. Communication is one of the most important things in astronomy. If working alone makes sure you have time to socialize out of work to keep your stress levels low. There is no perfect way to avoid the stress; so most of the time you must simply deal with it and continue the job you love. Almost all states have institutes where you can get a job in astronomy. The question is how many? The employment outlook rate is at a low 14% but has kept at this rate for a long time, with no growth or decline. In 2010 the amount of job opportunities was 20,600. From 2010

to 2020 the projected job opportunities is estimated to change by 2,800. With so few opportunities, the competition in this field is high and often works again the unemployed looking for jobs in this field. The best place to find jobs in this field are at universities with astronomy courses. The University of Berkeley is one of the largest universities that has astronomy as one of its main courses. Jobs in astronomy can also be found in government facilities. For low end jobs, a planetarium or museum would be the easiest opportunity. I was unable to find a person in time that was an astronomer, so I looked up a man named Joe on career cruising who was an astronmer. Joe works for a university and studies the geometry and expansion of the universe. He has worked as a professional for 4 years and is constantly doing research for his university and other institutes. He says the positives out of his job are One of the reasons I like my job is thats its varied and exciting and Also the subject matterits really fun to be thinking about the nature of the universe and trying to solve problems that are of interest to a wide range of people. But, he stated negatives as well I just have one dislike about being an astronomer and that is that its very difficult to get a permanent position and so many of the talented people that Ive known through the years have basically left the field in pursuit of more certain careers. Most of Joes job involves about 8 hours of being on the computer, working inside, and working with numbers. Some negatives I see about his daily activity is that he spends no time outside and he has little socializing time. When Im in college and see what astronomy may really be like, I may not like it. If Im not pleased with what I see I hope to become a biochemist or biologist with a PhD in biology or chemistry. If I do make it through all the hectic years of learning; I hope to go into astrochemistry and someday work for NASA studying chemical compositions of stars, nebulas and planets.

To finish, astronomy has always being my passion ever since I was a kid. It takes a lot of years of school, many stressful hours, and times where publicity could be negative. But in the long run you are a very unique individual of a very difficult branch of science. But without astronomers, many things in the universe would be unknown. There are mysteries even futuristic fictional characters on the U.S.S Enterprise couldnt solve. But I plan on being a future astronomer that will help the youth be interested in astronomy and physics and maybe even will have people someday saying thank you, who knows where we would be without your help