Binoculars - a good place to start off when entering the realms of Astronomy
Art Explosion ClipArt

How to??
News story originally written on February 4, 1998

Have you ever wondered how you might become an astronomer? Well here's how!!

Becoming an astronomer is as simple as stepping outside on a dark night, gazing at the stars, and thinking about what you see. You may want to purchase some books which tell you about the night sky and how to locate constellations. After you have learned to identify some constellations, I would recommend purchasing some binoculars. They are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and a lot of fun. There are many interesting objects which can be viewed with binoculars, and I would highly recommend the book 'Touring the Universe with Binoculars' to get you started. When you feel that you have mastered exploring the sky with those, a small telescope might be worth the money.

Finally, Windows to the Universe is just one of many sites on the Internet which will introduce you to virtually any aspect of astronomy.

Becoming a professional astronomer, someone who makes a career out of astronomy, requires many special skills and a lot of hard work. But if you love science, challenging problems, and studying the stars, planets and the other fascinating inhabitants of the universe, it will be worth it! As a first step, you should take physics and math courses during high school. In college, you should major in physics or astronomy, and take math and computer courses as well. If you are interested in studying the planets of our solar system, you may want to concentrate your studies on geology. Then, in your senior year, you will apply to astronomy programs at graduate schools. Typically, an astronomy doctoral candidate spends around 6 years in graduate school. That's 10 years total time in college - more than some types of medical students!

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

1999--A Year in Review...

It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,...more

STS-95 Launch: "Let the wings of Discovery lift us on to the future."

The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on October 29th at 2:19 p.m. EST. The sky was clear and the weather was great. This was the America's 123rd manned space mission. A huge...more

Moon Found Orbiting Asteroid

Scientists found a satellite orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is the second one ever! A special telescope allows scientists to look through Earth's atmosphere. The first satellite found was Dactyl....more

U.S. is Fed Up with Russia

The United States wants Russia to put the service module in orbit! The module is part of the International Space Station. It was supposed to be in space over 2 years ago. Russia just sent supplies to the...more

More on Recent Coronal Mass Ejection

A coronal mass ejection (CME) happened on the Sun last month. The material that was thrown out from this explosion passed the ACE spacecraft. ACE measured some exciting things as the CME material passed...more

Mother Nature's Air Conditioning

Trees and plants are a very important part of this Earth. Trees and plants are nature's air conditioning because they help keep our Earth cool. On a summer day, walking bare-foot on the sidewalk burns,...more

Planetary Alignment 2002

There is something special happening in the night sky. Through mid-May, you will be able to see five planets at the same time! This doesn't happen very often, so you won't want to miss this. Use the links...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA