Here's the typical route to being an astronomer/astrophysicist:
- College. Get a bachelors degree in physics, astronomy, math, etc. (4 yrs)
- Graduate study. Get at least a masters degree, but most likely a PhD. (6 yrs)
- Postdoc. This is a "real job" after finally finishing school. (1-?? yr)
- Full-time research and/or teaching. Most research astronomers are college professors, but many are also in labs, observatories, museums, or other organizations.
So if you like physics and math and are good at it, get your undergraduate degree. Doing some research while in college is always a good idea since it prepares you well for grad school. Grad school is where you learn to become an independent researcher (not to just take more advanced classes). The average astronomy PhD does take 6 years to finish. The
average astronomy PhD has 2-4 postdocs these days, which basically depends often on
federal funding. Some people stay on this "soft money" forever, but many astronomers are tenured professors at colleges. The trick is to be geographically flexible since you're likely to move around a lot for a while and not end up where you started. Check out "A PhD Is Not Enough" by Peter J. Feibelman, and "Tomorrow's Professor" by Richard M. Reis, as well as the career pages of the
American Astronomical Society and
American Institute of Physics.
