I do not have a degree in astronomy. My degree is in mathematics, but I was
fortunate to have an opportunity to teach a semester of astronomy as Spokane
Community College two years ago.
Our membership is quite diverse, encompassing people from grade school to
retired hobbyists, and at every level of interest. I would say about half our
meetings are devoted to new users--introductory topics on constellations, what
to see, types of equipment, astrophotography, and so on, and pretty close to
half are much more advanced. Last month's topic was on the neutrino detector
network for providing astronomers early warning on the location of supernova.
We have local astronomy professors or researchers give these presentations, and
we try to have someone from NASA, JPL, LIGO, give us a talk on cutting edge
research. We've listened to talks on cosmology, astrophysics, stellar
evolution, the hunt for exoplanets, neutron star collision nucleosynthesis
(LIGO has detected one neutron star merger so far), and so on.
We have had students of astrophysics as members of the club, and were making
arrangements to have joint activities with the EWU astronomy club, but have
nothing ongoing at the moment.
Teaching is of course the obvious career path for astronomers. Research
astronomy may be a bit more limited, but I believe there are opportunities for
enterprising students to create their own positions. If you have something
that really interests you, you can write grant proposals the NSF might fund, or
that might attract funding from some private foundation. 60% of the 3000 civil
servants at the Goddard Space Flight Center are scientists and engineers, with
another 7000 supporting contractors. JPL, managed by the California Institute
of Technology, has about 6000 employees. If you have not taken a tour of LIGO,
I highly recommend doing so. This is a new frontier of astronomical research.
Also, you should contact some of the local astronomy professors (WSU, EWU,
SFCC, SCC, Whitworth, Gonzaga) regarding career opportunities. They can make
recommendations for counselors for graduate work, and so on.
Best of luck to you!
bcc SAS Board
Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo
On Monday, September 23, 2019, 8:01:54 AM PDT, Michael Finch
<michael.finch96@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Anyone want to take this?
_____
Message from:
Michael L. Finch
Springdale, WA 99173
E-mail: michael.finch96@xxxxxxxxx
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Tytus Aske <TytusWAske@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, Sep 17, 2019 at 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: Astronomy Questions
To: Michael Finch <michael.finch96@xxxxxxxxx>
I have a few questions. Do you have anyone in your organization who has a
degree in astronomy? If so who so that I may contact them. How in depth does
your organization explain astronomy? I may have more later on but for for that
is all I have.
On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 2:21 PM Michael Finch <michael.finch96@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Please send your questions and we'll get you answers or are you trying to meet
with someone?
_____
Michael L. Finch
Springdale WA 99173
michael.finch96@xxxxxxxxx
On Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 10:34 Tytus Aske <TytusWAske@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello, my name is Tytus Aske at Mountain View high school in Rathdrum, Idaho.
I am in a class where we look to future careers we would like to take. I am
doing mine on being an astronomer. I was wondering if would answer some
questions I have to the best of your ability. I am fully aware that this is a
non profit organization and you inform people of astronomy.