How do I know what field I will like the most?

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fatal291

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After being home schooled now it is time for college and obviously I love Astronomy I seriously doubt I could see myself doing anything other than Astronomy related work and being successful. So anyways after getting some info from UVA I realize that their are many many fields into Astronomy such as Cosmology and Areophysics.. How do I know what field is best for me? I've contacted so many NASA officials and local Science Museums it is not even funny, however what is funny is how they all gave me the old run around. <br /><br />Are their any (online) tests I could possibly take to figure out this a little more atleast in general? I have been to many many Nasa sites and I doubt their is anything you can show me from NASA.gov that would suprise me or that I have not seen.<br /><br />I do love the study of the features of planets but I'm not sure what else that field involves or what I would be missing out on in other fields. If someone could help it would be great for a future Astronomer thanks!!
 
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doubletruncation

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If you're really interested in going into astronomy, I think physics is what you would want to major in at college. That's what most astronomy grad students that I know majored in, and that's what most professors encourage people to study. When you apply to grad school in astronomy you take the physics GRE and are usually required to have taken lots of different physics classes (through quantum mechanics) but not necessarily required to have studied astronomy at all. If you have a solid background in physics then it's not too hard to pick up the astronomy specific ideas and terminology later. You would probably take a few courses in astronomy anyway to be familiar with the basic concepts of stellar evolution, galaxies and cosmology, and perhaps for your research projects it would be good to do something related to astronomy, but you really should get all the basic physics that a major teaches you. Also, if you decide later that astronomy is not what you want to go into, then having a physics background is a very good starting point for lots of other fields in math/science/engineering. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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fatal291

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Ok thanks, I don't know anything more than everyday life knowledge of Physics. I also need to work on my Math. Any suggestions for books or material? I don't have a person to talk to about this kind of stuff really (other than my parents) because I'm home schooled)
 
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doubletruncation

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I think that any introductory physics book would probably work. A very popular first-year undergraduate physics book is "Fundamentals of Physics" by Halliday, Resnick and Walker. If you look for an older edition you can probably find it for cheaper, basic physics hasn't changed much in 100 years so if you get the 1960 edition even you'd be fine. I think it comes nowadays in two volumes, the first is mechanics the second is electricty and magnetism. You would probably want to focus on the chapters on mechanics and electricity and magnetism (so vectors, dynamics, work and energy, momentum, oscilliations and gravity, and then charge and matter, electric and magnetic field, currents, the potential etc.). Chapters on fluid dynamics, temperature and heat, light and quantum mechanics are probably not as important to learn at an introductory level. One big advantage to this book is that it has answers to the odd-numbered questions in the back, so you can do the exercises and check your answers (something you definitely should do when you read the book). This book does use basic calculus (derivatives and integrals), it does a pretty good job of introducing the concepts from a physical point of view, but you may also want to read through a calculus textbook like "Calculus" by Stewart - again there are lots of different books out there, but as long as you learn what derivatives and integrals are and how to solve them you'll be fine. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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Saiph

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one advantage to newer editions of physics texts are updated teaching techniques. I.e. it's often presented better.<br /><br />If you wish to teach yourself physics, Haliday and Resnik is a good book. Just work through from start to finish, both volumes if you got it that way.<br /><br />Astronomy requires all fields of physics. Focus on mechanics first, then EM. You can bypass thermodynamics and fluids for a while, but you should at least look over thermo. <br /><br />Quantum mechanics is another field to cover, but only once you've gotten good at solving problems from a physics perspective....quantum is very odd.<br /><br />I highly recommend getting the Schaums problem sets, about $10 per set (two volumes like Haliday and resnik). Each has 500+ problems, all have answers, a good chunk of worked out solutions, and each section has a primer to help you get to the crux of the issue.<br /><br /><br />Now, as for what field to focus on in astronomy: Don't worry about it. A lot of it depends on who you can work with. If you think you'd like cosmology, any work in other fields will still help out, and you may not have access to anyone working in that field where you end up at college.<br /><br />You don't really start focusing down into one particular field until your senior year when you use your <i>general</i> preferences to help pick a graduate school. That way you don't end up at a school that does planetary work when you're interested in cosmology. Once you've done that, you still won't actually pick a field until year 2 or 3 of graduate school when you throw in your lot with a thesis advisor. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
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fatal291

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Thanks a lot guys you won't believe how long I've needed answers. I am 17 just to show you guys how close I am to real life and the reason to why I need to know this ASAP.
 
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Saiph

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no problem.<br /><br />If you like astronomy, a physics degree is the way to go, take any astronomy classes you have access to (which may not be any depending on the university). Look into a math minor (or major if you've got the stomach for it) and anything you do with computers will help too.<br /><br />As double said, it usually the case that astronomy grad students going for their Ph.D. started graduate school without any formal classes in astronomy.<br /><br /><br />Also getting involved in the amateur astronomy community doesn't hurt. It provides a lot of early motivation and information, plus it keeps you from bieng one of the many astronomers who don't know the constellations, or how to use a small telescope (which is the general case from my experience!). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
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doubletruncation

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Just to add to what Saiph has mentioned, be sure to take statistics in college - in my experience, at least, this is the set of mathematical tools that I use almost every day. Also, nowadays its important to do some research as an undergraduate. Talk to professors at your university doing research in astronomy to see if they have any projects that you could work on. Usually people don't start research projects until at least after their first year (and often not until after their second year), your school may even have a formal program for finding a research project and conducting it. If there aren't any astronomy professors at your university (or none that are doing research that sounds interesting to you - when you talk to a professor about a project try to get a good idea for what exactly you'll be doing), then you might want to consider doing one of the "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" - see for example:<br />http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/reu/<br />or just google "Astronomy REU" and you'll see lots of different places that offer them. These are summer jobs that typically will result in you being able to contribute to a project and end up as a co-author on a paper. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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Saiph

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yeah, those books can be expensive. It's one reason they come in multiple volumes.<br /><br />I highly suggest getting them used, as that can drop the price by ~25% if from a retailer. If you're industrious, you can snag a good book from students at the end of the semester. If they sell the books back to the store, they usually get something like $30-$40, but if you offer them the same, or slightly more, you cut out the middle man.<br /><br /><br />As for research....double's right. Though I'll add one caveat: Find <i>something</i> you're interested in at your university. If none of the astronomy profs are doing anything your interested in, look to the physics field. Lab experience of any kind is very, very good.<br /><br />Also, talk to the profs about where you might end up in the research. You may start out doing something ho-hum, but if you stick with them, you can often be a go-to guy near your senior year (with lots of hard work of course), second only to the profs grad students (usually). Heck, I had a friend who trained the new grad students his junior and senior years (as an undergrad), just to bring them up to speed.<br /><br />Oh, and REU's are really fun. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
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