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Advantages of a Career in Astronomy

-- | September 16, 2015

Question: I am doing a school project about astronomy. I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the advantages and disadvantages of being an astronomer. — Grace

Answer: As I have mentioned in several responses to similar questions about what it is like to have a career as an astronomer in the Careers in Astronomy pages of this blog, there are some clear advantages to a career as a scientist. These include a regular flow of interesting tasks to do and the flexibility to schedule the work on those tasks using your own discretion. About the only disadvantage, and this is only a slight disadvantage, is that scientists are not necessarily paid a very high salary commensurate with the long hours that most of us work. One can make a reasonable living as a scientist, though.

Jeff Mangum

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