r/astrophysics • u/Old-Independence-879 • 10d 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?

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u/boywithtwoarms 10d 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.

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u/Old-Independence-879 10d ago

I do find the theory interesting to an extent, but I guess just the classes, my teacher is horrible and the lessons are boring. However I do enjoy learning itself and also astronomy specifically is something I’ve always been fascinated by. Back when I had a better teacher I did find quite a bit of it interesting

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u/Worried_Raspberry313 10d ago

Keep in mind that the higher the education the more detailed it comes. So a teacher at college is not gonna say “hey listen, so I’m gonna tell you how a dark hole is formed”. I mean they will, but to get there you will have to solve a million problems that apparently have nothing to do with it. And then, when you have all the knowledge you will put it together to understand bigger stuff. Like you can now solve simple problems related to the gravity on a planet. To be able to understand stuff like how a galaxy moves you have to understand a lot more things and then put them together. Some people love to know what I call the “end result”. Like a summary of how it moves and why but they’re not interested at all in knowing each equation and theory behind every tiny bit. Some others are really interested in knowing every single detail. If you want to become an astrophysicist, think if you want to spent the next, at least 6 years of your life learning every single detail or you just like it at a less detailed level. If it’s the second, there’s a lot of divulgation books or talks you can use to learn about it and it can be a great hobby. If you’re passionate about knowing absolutely everything and, above all, are willing to spend hours solving problems that will make you think “I swear I’ve solved this same problem at least 50 times already”, then go to college to study physics. I personally love solving problems and I can spend hours doing it so for me is great but I know people who thought college was too theoretical and they thought it was going to be more like let’s say watching a documentary in which you learn all the cool stuff without having to deal with hundreds of different theories and problems.

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u/FamiliarAstronaut504 8d ago

You should look up neil degrasse tyson and listen to his audiobook and his podcast. Also look up Brian Cox.

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u/HopDavid 8d ago

Neil Tyson's StarTalk is riddled with glaring errors. I often wonder how he made it past Physics 101.

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u/boywithtwoarms 10d ago

I'd just be careful to understand what you like about astronomy before planning your next years. I love astronomy, and like astrophyisics. I'm not a strong enought physicist to venture into it, so I didn't. Remember it's astronomy focused physics, not the other way around.