Considering studying astrophysics? Is it a bad idea?

Steven_thebear

I don't know if this is in the wrong thread but maybe at least one or two people can help me out who've studied astrophysics or are familiar with the field. I'm sort of having a dilemma in my head about whether or not I want to study astrophysics. Now technically, I don't really have to make that decision until about January next year but I keep coming back to this as a valid course option. But I do have a few concerns, the primary one being, is there any jobs at all in this field if you aren't an absolute prodigy at maths and physics? I'm aware of the fact that it is probably not the worst idea to do at least a masters if I chose this course, but I just concerned that I might end up with a paperweight degree after all the work put in. Now I'm not going to claim I know everything about studying in college, I would actually say I'm a bit ignorant as my two sisters are currently not in college and studied nothing at all like a science.

The other concern being, the guts of what makes up the course. I am aware that it is primarily physics and maths which makes up the bulk of the course, but I'm wondering about the difficulty curve. In school at the moment, I am studying both of them and do moderately well and can do much better when I put my head down for them. I'm just wondering if this is something that I would be like to be studying full time.

Now you might be wondering why do I want to study this? Well the primary reason being that I adore astrophysics, particularly the science behind the likes of stars, nebulas and galaxies. I genuinely love digging any information up on the internet and in some books I occasionally buy. To say the least, I am a huge nerd . But I do know that what I look at is the results of long term study and not the actual process of trying to find that information. My mother is wisely insisting that I keep my options open (which I am of course) and that I should try to find out as much information as possible on this.

If anyone could give helpful information, it would be really, really appreciated. And by the way, the college I'm looking at is Maynooth, primarily because you can study computer science as a module for all 4 years which might be useful and it seems like a very nice university to go to.

Thanks for your time

ps200306

Hi Steven thebear, my experience will not be entirely relevant to what you are considering but for what it's worth:

I did a physics degree with the Open University (B64 BSc Hons. in Natural Sciences). There are a number of different pathways and I chose everything to do with astronomy and astrophysics. It's primarily a distance learning course, with a number of on-site residential schools in the UK, and annual exams held in Ireland. I'm an older student, doing it just for the fun/love of it.

Thus, I can't tell you anything about Irish colleges, but I can give you an idea what 3rd level astrophysics involves. First, as you guessed, it's quite mathematical. You will especially need to be well-versed in integral calculus. It's not necessarily way more advanced than what I remember of honours leaving cert (from donkey's years ago), but you'll need to have it at your fingertips because it's a basic tool in any science. Other useful mathematical topics would be vector calculus, wave mechanics and Fourier analysis, among others. I imagine whatever course you pick will include the relevant mathematics to complement the physics you will cover.

Astrophysics can cover a broad range of things -- from stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis, to Active Galactic Nuclei, to planetary systems and exoplanets, to compact objects and accretion discs, to cosmology. You'll probably cover a smattering of them all, plus maybe some astronomy, spectroscopy, quantum physics, and perhaps some computational techniques. Feel free to PM me if you'd like some idea of what 3rd level topics look like, though you might be better seeing if you can get a course overview for the course you're actually considering.

I am not looking to pursue a career in astrophysics, so I can't tell you a whole lot on that front. I do remember an OU lecturer opining that there were only about fifty PhD places in astrophysics available in the whole UK each year, and Ireland is presumably an even smaller pool than that, so the chances of a career in research are probably severely limited. Nevertheless, you come across some Irish names now and again in farflung places (e.g. here and here). If you can get plenty of experience with computing while you study, it could help with future career choices, even if not in astrophysics.

There'll be people on this board with more study/career experience that could advise you better. I'm just a casual punter.

rolion

Hello,

Not sure is related to your initial question, but I found this page here, it may help you.

Good luck.