I have about 15 questions I would love to ask! :]
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Companies don't tend to hire astronomers. What we do isn't all that useful for industries. Astronomers work for colleges and universities, national labs and observatories, and organizations like NASA, ESA, and ESO.
1. I'm a college professor, teaching astronomy and physics and doing research in astrophysics.
2. I like teaching, I like doing my research (not so much writing about it) and I get to do a lot of traveling around the world.
3. Having to move every few years since jobs usually aren't long-term, and there are so few of them you take what you can get, which means constantly moving.
4. Sure; I didn't end up liking my first grad school and transferred to another that I liked better, but it added a few years to my time in grad school.
5. BA from a liberal arts college, MS/PhD from a large southern university.
6. Only do it if you love it; otherwise you'll hate it. It's not worth it unless you can't picture yourself doing anything else. And you will need a PhD. Get one in physics; it's more employable and you can still do astronomy.
7. Creativity, computer programming and math skills. But also reading, writing (papers, grants, proposals, job applications), and presenting - you have to be able to talk about your work in front of a lot of people.
8. Reading email, working on the computer (programming, reducing data, running instruments), talking to collaborators.
9. This one.
10. It's not a planet. We needed a good definition of planet; now we have one, and it doesn't fit, as it should not.
11. Not really.
12. No, that's what makes it interesting.
13. That's not really a matter of opinion.
1. I'm a college professor, teaching astronomy and physics and doing research in astrophysics.
2. I like teaching, I like doing my research (not so much writing about it) and I get to do a lot of traveling around the world.
3. Having to move every few years since jobs usually aren't long-term, and there are so few of them you take what you can get, which means constantly moving.
4. Sure; I didn't end up liking my first grad school and transferred to another that I liked better, but it added a few years to my time in grad school.
5. BA from a liberal arts college, MS/PhD from a large southern university.
6. Only do it if you love it; otherwise you'll hate it. It's not worth it unless you can't picture yourself doing anything else. And you will need a PhD. Get one in physics; it's more employable and you can still do astronomy.
7. Creativity, computer programming and math skills. But also reading, writing (papers, grants, proposals, job applications), and presenting - you have to be able to talk about your work in front of a lot of people.
8. Reading email, working on the computer (programming, reducing data, running instruments), talking to collaborators.
9. This one.
10. It's not a planet. We needed a good definition of planet; now we have one, and it doesn't fit, as it should not.
11. Not really.
12. No, that's what makes it interesting.
13. That's not really a matter of opinion.
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Ask again and say the questions