How Does an Astronomer Spend a Workday?

Introduction

An astronomer is a scientist who works in observing, studying and describing phenomenon that happens in the sky. An astronomer may also be an astrophysicist. An astrophysicist is someone who takes the phenomenon he observes in the sky and tries to explain it using natural laws. An astronomer plays an important role in the scientific community. With this work we can understand more about our environment, where we came from, and how the world evolved. An astronomer is often categorized as only working during the night. However, an astronomer actually works a fairly normal workday.

Preparation

Much of an astronomer's workday has to do with preparing for a night observation. Most astronomers work during regular daytime hours with a few nightly observations on a periodic basis. However, these observations do take much preparation leading up to the actual observation night. Before an observation, an astronomer will do as much background study on what he is planning to look at using past observations and other astronomers' studies and work. Many will plan out minute by minute how the observation night will go from telescope set up, through the entire observation process. An astronomer will notate what part of the sky he wishes to photograph during the observation night, as well as what exact times he wishes to move the telescope to observe the phenomenon from the best angles and light.

Computer Programing

Depending on what phenomenon the astronomer is focusing on, he may write computer programs to help study whatever event he plans to observe. This computer program will then help the astronomer study the results he gets during the observation night. Writing these computer programs may take a significant amount of time, and so may take weeks of work before being able to use a workable program.

Observation

An astronomer may spend every night looking at the sky. However, most astronomers only spend a few night per year in actual observation, while the rest of their workdays are spent analyzing the data that is collected during those few observation nights. On an observation night an astronomer will usually arrive later in the afternoon to the telescope site and start a checklist to make sure that the telescope is working correctly. Once the sun starts to goes down, the telescope dome is opened, and the equipment is allowed to cool down to the temperature of the air. Once the sun has completely set, an astronomer will start taking test images to make sure that the telescope is working correctly and is aimed at the right area of the sky that he wishes to study. He then aims and takes pictures of the sky throughout the night according to the schedule that he worked out during the preparation period. Once the sun starts to rise again, the dome is closed, the equipment shut down, and the astronomer heads back home to catch up on sleep before heading back into the lab.

Study

After the observation night, an astronomer returns back to regular hours of operation during the day. He will spend the next many months analyzing every aspect of the pictures that he took. He may also use the computer programs that he has specially written to help in this process. He will test theories, write research papers, publish results, and speak to the many other astronomers in the field about the results of the observation. Once a study is complete, he will start the planning process again for the next observation. Each observation usually builds off the study of the last, allowing an astronomer to give increasingly detailed results.

Presenting Findings

After all the observations have been completed and studied, an astronomer will usually have the chance to present his findings. This may be through publication, or through conferences with other astronomers from around the world.

Resources

• American Astronomical Society