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Astronomy Career Interview Questions

-- Tara C Taylor | September 16, 2020

Question:

Helping a student ask these questions for an interview assignment.

Who is your favorite astronomer?
Do you use a telescope?
What discoveries did you make?
How did you get interested in astronomy?

-- Tara C Taylor

Answer:

Glad to answer your questions about a career in astronomy. Note that if you search “careers” in this blog you will find quite a few interviews similar to this one that you might find interesting.

Who is your favorite astronomer?

Probably someone you have never heard of. Grote Reber is widely regarded as the father of radio astronomy, which he developed as a young electrical engineer in Wheaton Illinois. He ended up spending most of his life pursuing a wide range of scientific endeavours, including not only astronomy but also energy efficiency and paleontology, to name two. Pretty amazing individual.

Do you use a telescope?

Yes. Quite a few, in fact, if you count all of the data from telescopes I have used on my science research. Most of the telescopes I have used are ones that gather measurements at radio wavelengths, but I have also used telescopes that operate at optical, infrared, xray, and gamma ray wavelengths.

What discoveries did you make?

Most astronomers do make discoveries their regular research, but these are not discoveries that you would have necessarily heard about as they are not necessarily news-worthy to the general public. We often discover new and interesting aspects of objects that others have studied for many years, further clarifying what things are made of in the universe.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

At a very young age I just happened to find astronomy interesting. Not sure exactly what the trigger was, but once I decided that astronomy is what I wanted to do I just set my mind to being an astronomer.

-- Jeff Mangum

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
	The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..."
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