How much money do Astronomers make?

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fatal291

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typical astronomers.. I'm sure it depends on their backgrounds and a lot of other factors.. but in general (a job at NASA) about how much do they make?
 
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pioneer0333

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I never knew that astronomers could make that much money. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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tfwthom

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Problem<br /><br />I know people with PHD's in astronomy that can't find a job in that field (even thought they were top of their class) One I know works as the IT Systems Manger at an observatory, (duel degree) Astronomy and Computer Science. The field is hard to get into. If you want to get rich don't pick astronomy. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>
 
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tfwthom

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From NASA:<br /><br />Pay and Benefits <br />Civilians<br />Salaries for civilian astronaut candidates are based on the Federal Government's General Schedule pay scales for grades GS-11 through GS-13, and are set in accordance with each individual's academic achievements and experience.<br /><br />Other benefits include vacation and sick leave, a retirement plan, and participation in group health and life insurance plans.<br /><br />Military<br />Selected military personnel will be detailed to the Johnson Space Center but will remain in an active duty status for pay, benefits, leave, and other similar military matters.<br /><br /><br />From Texas A&M<br /><br />Current Employment of PhD Graduates<br /> ..to the best of our knowledge <br /><br />http://www.as.utexas.edu/astronomy/education/formergrads.html<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>
 
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larper

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If you really want to make money with the stars, become an Astrologer. You can make many dollars without making any cents. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Vote </font><font color="#3366ff">Libertarian</font></strong></p> </div>
 
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pioneer0333

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How much money does it cost to build an average sized observatory? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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fatal291

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..which is why I would like to know how much astronauts make..
 
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erioladastra

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"I have heard that it is, indeed, very difficult to find a job as an astronomer. There are only so many observatories in the world, after all. And it's not like astronomy has many practical applications in the everyday world, alas.... "<br /><br />Some misconceptions there... Not all astronomers work at observatories. In fact most don't. Most are academics at universities. That is why the median is around $88k/yr. But there are many that work at institutes (Space Telescope, CfA), working on satellites (Goddard, JPL) or at observatories (Kitt Peak). Many go off to work at private places (e.g., Lockheed Martin) on military projects. It is a tough filed ot get in because really the field produces far more PhDs then there are jobs - but that should not be a surprise to anyone entering the field or a PhD program. In fact, in my personal opinion, the field is larger then it should be due to heavy support/subsidy by NASA.
 
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erioladastra

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"..which is why I would like to know how much astronauts make.. "<br /><br />You are not reading the link then. It depends! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> The level of pay is related to experience. They make $60-120k approximately depending on years in the government for civil servants (I don't know much about the military). Maybe after being an astronaut they can make lots of money but while being one, generally they could make more money in private industry!
 
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drwayne

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When I was finishing my Ph.D. in Physics, there was a LOT of competition for academic positions in astronomy and physics, I knew a gentleman who was on his third post-doc...<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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doubletruncation

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<font color="yellow">It is a tough filed ot get in because really the field produces far more PhDs then there are jobs - but that should not be a surprise to anyone entering the field or a PhD program.</font><br /><br />While this would hopefully be the case, I think in practice people tend to be over-optimistic about their chances when they enter the field. I think one thing that's easy to overlook is that most people's mentors in the field are people who have succeeded in getting through the system, so they tend to be optimistic about how easy it is to get a good, stable job. A lot of people going into PhD programs are told by their undergraduate advisors that it isn't that hard to get a job (or else they never really think to ask about it, because they have wanted to be astronomers since they were kids and getting a PhD is what you do). And a lot of graduate students are told by their advisors that they shouldn't worry about jobs because anyone can get a postdoc. Very few people ever hear from the many individuals who don't end up getting a long-term job in the field. Most people have to do at least two or three postdocs and then hope that they can get some sort of tenure track position (and then hope that they can actually get tenure or else end up unemployed at 40). It's easy when you're going into grad school to think that moving every three years until you're in your mid-thirties is no problem since you typically aren't thinking about having a family yet (and don't realize that it's very difficult to move that often if you have a partner). Also, I think, if people have older professors as advisors they tend to get a somewhat skewed perspective, since back in the sixties when the professors got hired jobs were plentiful and they may not have had to do even a single postdoc. Trying to go into astronomy really is a risky business and perhaps should not be encouraged among young people as strongly as it seems to be. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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erioladastra

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"To do that as an academic, you must compete for observatory time..."<br /><br />An army of theoretical astronomers would just beg to differ with you. And those who build hardware would also disagree.
 
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erioladastra

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<br />Well in astronomy, many professors and advisors have been saying in the 80s and 90s that it was very hard to get a job in astronomy. My undergrad advisor said he wouldn't do it if he were I. In grad school and as I saw the post docs I never sw any evidence of people being heavily encouraged. Even when women were "encouraged" to help blance the work force, there was a heavy dose of "but there are not many jobs". The bright spot was a late 80s areticle called the Graying of Astronomy that predicted a surge in jobs when the elder generation retired. But that never really appeared. At the American Astronomical Society meetings for years they have had sessions to deal with the large number of PhD for the few jobs. Of course, to the AAS if you are not doing research you are not worth considering.
 
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doubletruncation

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I believe you since I don't really have a very wide experience in this. In my experience my undergrad advisor was one of the elder generation, and I'd consider him to be overly optimistic. He pretty much assumed that everyone would go to grad school in physics or astronomy (I was a physics major since we didn't have an astronomy program, and pretty much everyone in that program was being pushed along into grad school). I'm an astronomy grad student now, and I didn't really get a sense for how tough it is to get a job in this field until I saw my advisor not get offered tenure and have to move (despite working a lot more than most people I know, publishing more than ten first author papers per year, and having made some significant contributions to his field), and until I started working with a few postdocs who haven't gotten a tenure track position after being out of grad school for nearly a decade (and whom I would consider to be incredibly smart, hard-working individuals who also have made some significant contributions, or have gotten unlucky with null results). I guess I feel like I didn't really get an accurate picture until after starting grad school, but if I had had a different undergrad advisor (or asked around more) it probably would have been different. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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bdewoody

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I doubt if very many of those in the astronaut corps are in it for the money. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>
 
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austinexs

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My wife just finished up here Ph.D. in astrophysics and she didn't have any problem getting a job. She got a tenure track position at a local university without having a post-doc. Of course her grad school that she attended is known for the graduate students doing all the research and programming as well as observing, and she taught 3 lecture courses along the way so that probably helped as well. As far as what a Astronomer makes it depends on what you go into. My wife was offered a job at NASA starting at 62,000 and Lockheed at just over 100,000. She ended up taking a college professor position starting at 72,000 a year to answer the subject post. She did this so she could continue her research.
 
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drwayne

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Congratulations to her, on her degree, and her job.<br /><br />May both be a blessing.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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vogon13

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It's not the money, it's the groupies . . . . <br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>
 
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