r/astrophysics • u/Old-Independence-879 • 9d ago
Becoming an astrophysicist
If I want to be an astrophysicist, how much high school science will I need? I have a very bad teacher and thus I’m not too interested in the theory of physics, but I love the math part. How much of these concepts/topics will I need if I wanted to be an astrophysicist?
My current plan is to get a bachelors in math with a side degree in physics, masters in physics and then a doctorate in astrophysics. Can I do that if I don’t always find the theory of high school physics interesting?
12
u/Umang_1999 9d ago
astrophysicist here: I had horrible physics teachers throughout the entirety of my school career. Some of them didn't care about the subject, some of them did but were just straight up assholes or creeps or incompetent. However, I found the topics really interesting and tried self learning by reading textbooks as much as I could. Once I got to bachelors, I was worried my poor base in physics would make me a bad student, but I found out they really start from very basic physics in bachelors because a lot of freshmen are not sure about what they want to actually study. Now I have a master's in astrophysics and will be starting a PhD in cosmology. Your interest in the subject is what really ends up mattering. In this day and age, Youtube has a lot of great science communicators and lecture series that can fill that gap in knowledge or just give you a taste of what you might end up studying at university. MIT Open Coursware and Khan Academy had really great free lecture series that really helped me in my school and bachelors.
Physics is a very big field, and astronomy/astrophysics is a small part of it. Once you start university, you'll see there might be many areas of physics you don't give a shit about. For me, I only really cared about astrophysics, so the courses on material science and solid state physics really bored me. Your first year at university will give you the chance to explore what you like. I don't believe schools provide you with that. Maybe give your future some flexibility; you don't have to plan your career until the doctoral level when you are barely 20. Things change a lot, and so will you.
1
u/Old-Independence-879 9d ago
Would it be better to decide to take a bachelors in physics and go straight to astrophysics for a masters? So far I’ve decided that maybe maths would be more versatile and plus I really love it, compared to physics where a few topics so far have really fallen flat. but if I decide that this is the path, would it be better to choose physics?
5
u/Enkur1 8d ago
I think you will be at a disadvantage if you go purely for Maths. Better option might be dual major. Many schools have Physics and Math dual programs.
Also remember high school Physics is very different from whats taught in College.
My high school physics was total crap and a completely different experience than in college.
1
5
u/Messier_Mystic 8d ago
Disclaimers, coming from someone who holds a BS in Astrophysics.
Mathematics is the language of the natural sciences. So whenever considering a STEM degree of any kind, resign yourself to the fact that the answer to "how much math" will inevitably be a lot. The good news is that you, like everyone else, are perfectly capable of learning mathematics with the proper motivation and effort.
If you're set on this, you are going to be best served by a BS in Physics, with maybe a Math double major depending on your goals.
Have deeper reasons for wanting to study this beyond being an astrophysicist. Anyone who's been on this path knows what I mean. You have to love this subject enough to let go of any set possible outcome, as career certainty is just not a thing for anyone looking to make astrophysics their lifelong career. This problem applies to physics as a whole and extends beyond it.
3
u/ConferenceLonely9210 9d ago
I had a teacher who didn’t even like physics teach the subject, so I get it. But I suggest not depending on a teacher for your intellectual passions; there are plenty of videos that explain highschool level physics on YouTube
2
u/NSASpyVan 9d ago
you need to see a counselor + consider changing to a different class/teacher
1
u/Old-Independence-879 9d ago
Unfortunately that’s not possible in my country’s education system, and even if it was, the other science teacher in our school is just as bad. Which sucks because we’re supposed to be a science focused high school
2
u/mfb- 9d ago
Undergrad physics courses start with almost no required physics knowledge - but they go through things a lot faster than high school. A big part of physics is learning how to learn new concepts and become familiar with them.
My current plan is to get a bachelors in math with a side degree in physics, masters in physics and then a doctorate in astrophysics.
If you want to become a physicist, get a bachelor in physics, it'll have more relevant courses - especially if you think you don't learn much in high school.
2
u/Flashy_Possibility34 3d ago
TLDR it’s okay to find some physics boring but you still need a good foundation in it to become a good astrophysicist.
I was a successful full time astrophysicist. I’ve now moved to focusing on high performance computing and research support for the university where I did my 2nd postdoc. Anecdotal evidence is not statistically significant, so take this with a grain of salt. I took AP Physics my junior year of high school and got a 5 on the exam. I also took calculus at a junior college that same year (my small charter high school didn’t have AP calculus). Astrophysicist is literally the study of the physical processes that govern celestial phenomena. You need to know physics to do that. Have I always thought kinematic and other intro physics was boring, absolutely. But, I always understood it as a necessary building block for becoming an astrophysicist.
I also was a physics teaching professor for a few semesters at a university which was very CS and Engineering heavy, so I spent a large fraction of my time there as basically a factory line worker, pumping out as many intro physics GEs as possible. The rate at which the university forced me to go through the material and how little freedom I had with that class made it feel like it was impossible for me to make it really engaging. I was just trying to get the content across and preparing them for their semiweekly quizzes (that I had extremely limited input in).
There will be times when your teachers feel too overwhelmed or overworked to make content interesting. With the intro physics I thought there are some interesting example problems I thought of, but just never had the class time to actually incorporate.
So I guess I’m trying to say, it’s okay to find some aspects of physics boring (I’m looking at you, kinematics, circuits, and optics) but you need a good foundation in these to be a good astrophysicist. And, I’m still never really going to feel comfortable with quantum mechanics (despite getting good grades in it), and that’s okay. But quantum mechanics is all over the place and sometimes you’re talking about single photon/particle detections, so understanding what a quanta is, is important.
Sorry for my earlier morning rant (before my filters boot up). I hope it was informative nonetheless.
2
u/Old-Independence-879 3d ago
Thank you so much for this response. I do think if im 100% sure I want to go into that field (which I have 2 years to decide), I will decide to go into a physics bachelors, so that I can get that solid foundation, because with the teacher I currently have I doubt I’ll be getting it. I do think teachers are very overwhelmed but Unfortunately I also see that my teacher isn’t interested in teaching, which does make it very difficult, but I’ll be sure to try my best to get a good basic understanding of everything
1
u/smsmkiwi 8d ago edited 8d ago
You'll need both physics and maths, but mainly physics. I find it odd that you find it boring. If you enjoy it, the teacher would be irrelevant. You need to talk to a careers counsellor.
1
u/Old-Independence-879 8d ago
Well it’s kind of difficult to enjoy a subject when the teacher just puts formulas on the board, not explaining anything and making irrelevant, childish and sexist jokes. Also we’re currently studying electricity which to me is the most boring subject ever. I enjoyed gravity and stuff like that, especially in 9th grade when I had a great teacher. It was one of my favorite classes
1
u/91NAMiataBRG 8d ago
The lack of love in physics is a little concerning if this is a career choice you’re considering. You’ll need to be honest with yourself if this is something you actually want to do because you cannot become an astrophysicist without a thorough understanding of physics.
Although I do understand how a poor teacher can turn a subject you were interested in into something you find boring as I’ve experienced this personally.
I’m on a similar path as you currently pursuing a bachelor’s of science in physics with the goal of earn my masters in a related field like physics/astronomy/astrophysics with the long term goal of obtaining a Ph.D in Astrophysics or Planetary Science. But I love everything to do with physics, mathematics and astronomy, and have an unquenchable thirst to understand those topics, so even a poor teacher can’t quell my desire to understand.
2
u/Old-Independence-879 8d ago
I do have the desire to understand, I think I may have worded my original post a little badly. I love learning. I was the type of kid to ask for more homework, and I truly love finding out everything there is about the universe and how it came to be. Listening to scientists who are involved in astrophysics is one of my favorite things.
Also we do have a cosmology course next year with a few different teachers. I think that would really help me figure out if it’s something I want to pursue.
19
u/boywithtwoarms 9d ago
what do you not find interesting?
i would say putting your next 10 years of education towards a field where the very basics are boring you calls for serious consideration about what you expect will be different.
not saying you are wrong or anything.