Life as an Astronomer 1 What do Astronomers

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z Planets z Solar System z Stars z “Star Stuff” (Interstellar Medium) z Galaxies z AGN/Quasars z Clusters z Universe 1

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z Solar System y. Sun y. Solar Wind y. Planets y. Moons y. Asteroids/NEOs y. Kuiper belt objects y. Interplanetary dust yetc…. 2

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z Stars y. Variable stars y. Binary systems y. Dwarfs, Giants, etc y. Supernovae, y. Compact Objects (black holes, white dwarfs, neutron stars) 3

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z “Star Stuff” (Interstellar Medium) y. Star formation & Protostars y. Chemistry y. Structure, Phase, and evolution 4

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z Galaxies y. Formation & Evolution y. Structure y. Populations y. Dynamics y. Environment (voids, field, groups, clusters) 5

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z AGN (Active Galactic Nuclei) & Quasars y. Formation y. Classification y. Fueling y. Evolution y. Number Density 6

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z Clusters y. Formation & Evolution y. Structure y. Dark Matter Content y. Lensing 7

Life as an Astronomer: 1. What do Astronomers Study? z The Universe y. Age and Size y. Formation & Evolution y. Content (dark matter, cosmic strings, exotic particles) y. Topology (shape) 8

Life as an Astronomer: 2. How do we Work? z Observations yground based (optical, near infrared, radio) y. Space based (rockets & space platforms; UV, x-ray) z Computers yanalyze data ysolve complex problems ynumerical simulations z Analysis yobjectivity yread & assimilate many forms of data ylinear & non-linear thinking z Writing yresearch papers yproposals ypresentations 9

Life as an Astronomer: 3. Where do we Work? z Academia y Research University y Teaching University/College z Research Facilities y Government Labs y National Observatories z Other y planetariums, telescope support, etc. z Private Sector 10

Life as an Astronomer: 4. How do we spend our time? z Academia: Research University (part 1 of 2) z Academia: Teaching University/College y bring in grant money y teach 3 -4 classes/yr y publish research papers y advise students y support observing facilities/instruments/ programs y run observatory labs y supervise thesis projects y support public outreach y less emphasis on research y teach 1 -2 classes/yr y serve on committees 11

Life as an Astronomer: 4. How do we spend our time? z Government Lab or National Observatory y support user community y publish research papers y manage people/projects y generally little or no teaching or grant raising (part 2 of 2) z Other/Private Industry y planetariums y science writing y telescope operators y science education y computer programming/ systems support y web design y defense industry y communications industry y “rocket scientist” on Wall Street 12

Life as an Astronomer: 5. Training ~70 colleges/universities in U. S. offer Astronomy or Astrophysics degree B average or better and decent GRE scores Support: Teaching or Research Assistant ~$15, 000 - $20, 000/yr plus tuition waiver After M. S. , attrition is mostly voluntary long hours, but flexible schedule extensive all-expense paid travel to exotic locations no or poor health and retirement benefits 13

Life as an Astronomer: 5. Job Timeline ~10 years from High School Payscale: $35, 000 -$45, 000 ~16 years from High School Payscale: $45, 000 - $70, 000 at “Assistant” Rank $70, 000 - $90, 000 at “Associate” Rank $90, 000 - $170, 000 at “Full” Rank geographically limited employment options no or poor benefits extensive all-expense paid travel to exotic locations long hours, but flexible schedule geographically limited employment options extensive travel long hours 14 ~22 years from High School before you know if you have a permanent position

Life as an Astronomer: 6. What Astronomers don’t do z. Tell your horoscope zhave a special line to space aliens zmemorize the constellations zspend all their time looking through telescopes 15

Life as an Astronomer: 6. A Typical Day z Read dozens of e-mails z attend some inane meeting z teach a class or advise a student on a research project z listen to or prepare a presentation on current research z analyze some data or make a figure or plot z download relevant journal articles to be read “later” z work on a paper or a proposal for observing time or research grant 16