How much does Astronomer make?

[Tiny]

Just curious :lol: mind tell me how much does astronomer make each year?

[DippyHippy]

I'm betting not a lot!!! Good question though... I've wondered this myself... I'll be surprised if we have any professional astronomers actually post their salary though...

[Matthew]

But then if the astronomer teaches at a university they could be making quite alot of money.

[damienpaul]

I know of an astronomer doing as you suggested matthew and yes, they are quite well off! However, many of them are PhD and beyond.

[rob tillaart]

I imagine that the greatest reward is looking through those telescopes and be there when exciting things happens. No money can pay for this.

[JimN]

I might be wrong about this but this info I heard before. The only people that are watching the night sky looking out for large objects that could smash into the Earth are a hand full of people. And not making a living of of it. :blink:

[JimN]

Other words these guys watching the skies for stuff like this are doing it at there own homes and reporting what they have spotted. It's a hobbie. I seen something about this on the news or something before.

[DippyHippy]

That's partly true... but the astronomers you're referring to are amateurs and we're talking about how much a professional astronomer makes.

[JimN]

Originally posted by DippyHippy@Jan 31 2004, 11:47 PM
That's partly true... but the astronomers you're referring to are amateurs and we're talking about how much a professional astronomer makes.
Well if the public is depending on info from these rookies and maybe the military and NASA, maybe Astronomers are not getting payed much at all. If you have the right equipment how hard is it to spot something odd in the sky. :ph34r:

[DippyHippy]

The amateurs you're referring to aren't getting paid anything. Professional astronomers do obviously receive a salary, but I don't know what it is.

At the end of the day, for whatever reason, spotting Near Earth Objects isn't high on the list of professional astronomers, but it should be noted that Project LINEAR - which does exactly that (which is why it's also discovered so many comets) - is actually a military operation. And so is NASA.

As regards to it not being hard to spot something in the sky with the right equipment... I couldn't possibly comment, but I suspect it's not quite that easy.

[JimN]

Originally posted by DippyHippy@Feb 1 2004, 02:23 AM
The amateurs you're referring to aren't getting paid anything. Professional astronomers do obviously receive a salary, but I don't know what it is.

At the end of the day, for whatever reason, spotting Near Earth Objects isn't high on the list of professional astronomers, but it should be noted that Project LINEAR - which does exactly that (which is why it's also discovered so many comets) - is actually a military operation. And so is NASA.

As regards to it not being hard to spot something in the sky with the right equipment... I couldn't possibly comment, but I suspect it's not quite that easy.
I didn't say the rookies get paid for it. They just enjoy keeping track of it and probable do a better job in some cases.

[degeneration]

Here are some sample figures for the UK:

A postgraduate student studying full time for a PhD gets paid approx £9230 per year, tax free. I think over the next few years this is going to go up a little.

A post-doc, once he has passed his PhD viva, can get around £20k before tax, and I think this can go up roughly £1k per year for the 3/4 year post-doc contract... But obviously these figures may vary from institution to institution.

So I would imagine lectures and other full time academics would get a bit more than that.

[DippyHippy]

Geez, I earn just a little less than someone with a PhD - and I work in a call centre!!! I'm soooooooooo glad I didn't go to Uni!! (Especially given that a friend who did is now working in a petrol station, poor guy)

[kennedy502]

Well the typical salary for an astronomer is usually 89,000. But it all depends on what, and how much you discover. It ranges from $50,000 all the way to 2,000,000. Like I said it totally depends on where you work, and what you discover, so its a risky job.

[Chuck]

How much money can an astronomer need? Don't they live in old shipping crates behind the observatory while waiting for more telescope time?

[jrkeller]

According to salary wizzard,

"The median expected salary for a typical Astronomer in the United States is $95,635"