Astronomy is one of the most challenging and exciting fields of study at The University of Texas at Austin. The Department of Astronomy has steadily grown and diversified since its inception in the early 60s, and now is one of the country’s major astronomy centers.
Many undergraduate students at Texas take astronomy courses, whether to satisfy degree requirements, to diversify a major in a related field of science, to fulfill astronomy major requirements, or just simply out of interest in the subject. This page is addressed to those who wish to pursue astronomy as part of their overall undergraduate studies.
Why Major in Astronomy?
Astronomy may be pursued as a generalized liberal arts major or in an interdisciplinary program in combination with other subject areas, or in a pre-professional program leading to a career as a researching or teaching astronomer.
Students who feel that they have the inclination and capability to pursue Ph.D. level research in astronomy and astrophysics would select an appropriate program of physics, astrophysics and supporting mathematics courses to prepare themselves for graduate school. Those who might prefer an emphasis on the teaching of astronomy at the college, junior college, or secondary levels, rather than research, would pursue a program giving a broad preparation not only in astronomy, but also in the related subjects of physical science and geophysical sciences.
It is also legitimate to consider career orientations that combine other fields of interest with astronomy. To pursue such interdisciplinary programs, one could take courses in other areas, fashion a minor of some sort, or actually plan a double major, whichever is most appropriate. All such programs should be chosen in careful consultation with the Undergraduate Adviser and need his approval.
Some examples might be: (i) an astronomy major combined with courses in either history or philosophy of science; (ii) an astronomy major taking courses in journalism, communications or radio-television-film, for someone with an interest in science writing, planetarium work, or public education/outreach; (iii) an astronomy major with a computer sciences minor, a versatile combination involving very employable skills; (iv) a double major in astronomy and an engineering discipline for someone desiring to enter the aerospace field; (v) a minor in education for someone interested in secondary school science teaching. This by no means exhausts the possible interdisciplinary programs that might be pursued - subject to the approval of the Undergraduate Advisor.
Note that in considering majors that could be described as interdisciplinary, it is strongly recommended that you check with advisers in both departments. The major and minor requirements of both departments should be compared to determine if both will allow you to take all the courses you need. There may be some composite programs where you should major elsewhere and minor in astronomy.
It is also possible to consider an undergraduate major in astronomy primarily as a liberal arts program, with its objective the understanding of man's place in the cosmos. Such a program would be free to call upon a wide variety of subject areas, depending upon what aspects of the study were being emphasized. Besides technical courses, such a program could easily include courses in history, philosophy, biology, chemistry, psychology, and anthropology, to name a few areas. It should also be mentioned that a number of students have found the astronomy major to be a stimulating and satisfactory preparation for law school or medical school.
It is clear that each of the options above requires a different set of courses, and it is for that reason that the astronomy major at the University of Texas is flexibly designed, with a minimum of specific requirements. Students are encouraged to visit the department and discuss possible courses of study with the undergraduate advisors. A few examples of specific programs are given later in this pamphlet, but they are intended only as guidelines for the preparation of possible courses of study, not as dogma. Your actual program as an astronomy major would be designed in conference between you and the departmental undergraduate advisor.
Astronomy as a Career
Research careers in astronomy and astrophysics require a Ph.D., a course of study which usually extends 4 to 6 years beyond the Bachelor's degree on average. You will want to seek admission to astronomy graduate schools with research programs or major observatories. After a certain amount of time taking graduate level courses, you will generally become involved with a research program or a particular professor whose research is of interest to you. You may also obtain a research or a teaching assistantship to help you support yourself while you learn. Admission to the most prestigious schools is quite competitive.
Upon graduation, you would seek employment with major universities, observatories or government research laboratories that offer significant opportunities to pursue scientific research. Many astronomers begin their career with "post-doctoral" research positions on their way to more permanent employment.
It should also be noted that many people have found careers for themselves in fields that directly or indirectly support astronomy research by having a particular skill that is needed in a research program. To mention a few examples, a research effort at an observatory may require optical and mechanical technicians to assist in the work, data reduction specialists to help with data analysis, computer programmers and systems analysts and in some cases, draftsmen, writers, and even artists participate in shape the final presentation of results. Thus, a career involved in astronomy need not necessarily start with astronomy per se, it could begin with a skill you possess that is needed by astronomy.
The availability of jobs when you finally enter the employment market is very difficult to predict, since we are now talking about 10 or more years in the future. Few people have the wisdom to make such determinations accurately. Astronomy is still a small enough field in terms of numbers and funds, and so heavily funded by government research grants, that a small shift in government policy towards scientific research has a very large effect on the field. Over the last 30 years, the job market has fluctuated up and down. In the rapidly changing culture we live in, such variations are to be expected and are often the price of progress.
Given such uncertainties, the astronomy department feels that a program that emphasizes breadth of preparation is indicated, to try and obtain a wide range of useful knowledge and skills. This statement holds true at both the undergraduate and the graduate level. Extreme specialization may be appropriate at a postgraduate level, but at the undergraduate level a narrow orientation may leave you without options. Even if a balanced program adds some extra time to your undergraduate career, it may save you time in the long run by increasing your career options.
But finally, and probably most importantly, your primary criterion as a student should be how much you enjoy a certain area of study and how well you do in it. If you do well in a certain area, and enjoy it so much that you work hard at it, you will accomplish a good deal and have a high likelihood of ending up a successful practitioner in your chosen area, even in a competitive market. If future job security is your most important criterion for a career, then you certainly should not choose astronomy.
There are a variety of career possibilities for those students who stop with a Bachelor's degree; these were discussed in the earlier section "Why Major in Astronomy?"
For further discussion of astronomy as a career, a booklet has been prepared by the American Astronomical Society which pursues this subject in greater depth. It is available online at https://aas.org/learn/careers-astronomy
The Astronomy Department at UT Austin
The Department of Astronomy consists of approximately two dozen faculty members, plus about the same number of doctoral-level research scientists and associates. In addition, there are supporting technical, engineering and mechanical staff to assist in the teaching and research functions of the department. The top three levels of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy Building (PMA) Hall house the on-campus activities of the astronomy department, and include office space and the Astronomy student computer lab. The teaching labs and departmental audio-visual aids offices are housed on the 13th floor of the PMA building. The student services office is located in PMA 15.204.
Most areas of modern astronomy, from observational studies of the solar system, stars, nebulae and galaxies, to theoretical astrophysics applied to a wide range of topics, are represented in the interests of the scientists in the department. While the most important concentration of the department is in the area of observational astrophysics, there is also good theoretical support, and the large size of the department provides a unique opportunity for astronomy students to become informed on a wide variety of areas.
The department operates the University of Texas McDonald Observatory in West Texas, a world-renowned center of postgraduate astronomical research featuring many large telescope systems, including the innovative new Hobby-Eberly telescope with the light-gathering power of a mirror 9.2 meters in diameter -- the second largest in the world as of December 1996. (See the graduate brochure of the department for more information on research facilities and research interests of the faculty.) It is more and more common these days to see undergraduate students accompany researchers to the observatory.
Local facilities in Austin include a 9-inch refracting telescope located on top of T.S. Painter Hall, a 16-inch reflecting telescope on top of the PMA building and a solar telescope located on the 13th level of the PMA building. Computing facilities are provided by the UT Computation Center and numerous in-house computers and workstations, some of which are available to undergraduates when used for astronomy courses and research projects.
Requirements for the Major
Please refer to the Degree Requirements Checklist and Sample 4-year plans on the Department's Degree & Course Information page.
Choice of Courses
The most important factor in determining your course of study will be whether or not you eventually wish to enter graduate school in astronomy. If you do, the students you will be competing with for admission will mostly have undergraduate degrees in physics. Modern astronomy is a branch of graduate-level physics. To be a successful researcher in astronomy, there is no escaping the need for a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of physics.
The Pre-Professional Program Leading to Graduate Research
If you plan to go to graduate school in astronomy, you will want to select a program heavy in undergraduate physics and math - a program, in fact, very similar to the B.S. plan in physics. Only in this way will you be competitive as far as graduate school admission and performance is concerned. The astronomy major requirement will be fulfilled easily, in that you will have to take considerably more than this formal minimum requirement to gain admission to a good graduate school, in fact, a total program of at least 130 hours as an undergraduate will probably be required. As far as the minor is concerned, you would be covering it by taking extra physics courses.
The General Program
Students whose interests are not directed to Ph.D. level research, however, can look into this option and design for themselves a wide variety of programs in astronomy and astronomy-related courses of study. Some examples discussed earlier were history plus astronomy, philosophy plus astronomy, journalism plus astronomy (orienting courses towards science writing), communications plus astronomy (appropriate for planetarium work), education plus astronomy (secondary teaching ) etc. Such programs will not have the same compelling need for as much upper-division physics as the pre-professional program discussed above, and can be flexibly designed in conjunction with advising from both the astronomy and related departments.
Suggested General Plan for the Bachelor Degrees in Astronomy
Please refer to the Degree Requirements Checklist and Sample 4-year plans on the Department's Degree & Course Information page
Final Comments
It has been noted that one can imagine a wide variety of types of astronomy or astronomy-plus-something-else combination majors; e.g. astronomy plus education, astronomy plus history of science, astronomy plus science writing, etc. Students interested in such composite majors are strongly advised to seek counsel from responsible faculty in all departments in which they will be studying, in order to determine which department should be their major department. While the astronomy major has considerable flexibility, there may be critical courses in other areas that are available only in that area. Other considerations difficult to anticipate in a general discussion may also arise.
Helpful Links
Information subject to change. This is not intended as a substitute for advising, but merely to give prospective students an idea of the opportunities available for those wishing to major in astronomy.