What is an Astrogeologist?
Question: I am a sophomore and I have been fascinated with anything about space for as long as I can remember. I’m am currently researching about the astronomy careers. I plan to be an astro geologist and I’m still not sure what this job really involves or what it takes to pursue in this career. So can anyone tell me? — Racheal
Answer: Astrogeologists, as you might expect, combine the fields of astronomy and geology to study the terrain, composition, formation, and evolution of planets, asteroids, and comets. Note that this study includes not just the planets in our solar system, but also those planets being discovered in increasing number beyond our solar system (exoplanets). As with any field that combines aspects of two different scientific disciplines, you will need to become proficient in both astronomy and geology. Many university astronomy and geology programs have researchers who work as astrogeologists, so you should have no problems pursuing this field in college. For general information about careers in astronomy see the related postings in the archives of this blog.
Jeff Mangum