Career in Astronomy

Astronomy is the scientific study of universe and celestial bodies like galaxies, stars, planets and comets etc.   Astronomy is said to be the mother of all sciences.  It has many branches like positional astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology etc.  People who follow astronomy are known as astronomers. Astronomers can be professional as well as amateurs or hobbyist.

Astronomy as Hobby: To inculcate astronomy as a hobby among children, Vigyan Prasar (www.vigyanprasar.gov.in), a government organization responsible for science communication among masses has an entire section devoted to astronomy.  They provide low cost astronomy kit. They also organize ‘Telescope making workshops’ for school students, teachers and amateur astronomers. Vigyan Prasar also coordinates programmes on Night sky watching, Meteor Shower, solar and lunar eclipses and astrophotography through small telescopes. Astronomy Quiz and Essay competitions can also be organized in collaboration with Vigyan Prasar.  National Council of Science Museums also organizes similar kind of activities for astronomy enthusiasts.  Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Pune, is also engaged in promoting astronomy.

 National Standard Examination in Astronomy (NSEA) is being conducted all over India for secondary and higher secondary students. NSEA leads to Astronomy Olympiad. The Indian Astronomy Olympiad Program is designed to encourage students with good foundations in Physics and Mathematics and an interest in Astronomy to pursue further studies in this field. This program is conducted in collaboration with the National Council of Science Museums. It is funded by Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space. From 2005, Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) offered its wide net work for the conduct of the first stage exam. There are three groups – juniors, seniors and super seniors. For junior level the student should be in class X or below and for senior level the student should be in XI and for super senior level the students should not have appeared in XII exam. Super seniors write NSEA with seniors but become eligible for the International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA).

Astronomy Education: Astronomy is generally not taught as a subject at school or college level in India. Late Professor K.D. Abhyankar introduced Astronomy as a paper at graduate and post graduate levels in several Indian universities. One can opt for a combination of mathematics, physics and astronomy/astrophysics at graduation and post graduation level in universities like Osmania and Lucknow. Bangalore University amongst others, offers an M.Sc. in Astronomy as does Calicut university. One can go for research in astrophysics or astronomy after doing masters in physics or mathematics.

Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics: There are several Institutes/observatories in India which impart research in astronomy and allied fields. For science post graduates the prerequisite to join research in these areas is NET/JEST (Joint Entrance Screening Test). Engineering students who have qualified JEST with a high percentile in GATE can also join research careers in astronomy. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai is India’s premier institution for advanced research in the fundamental sciences. Astronomy and astrophysics is one of the main areas of research in  TIFR. National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) is a part of TIFR located inside Pune university campus. The major observational facility at NCRA is Giant Meter wave Radio Telescope (GMRT). Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Pune, provides advanced centralized facilities for research in astronomy and astrophysics to faculty and students. Research activity at IUCAA mainly involves cosmology, classical and quantum gravity, gravitational wave astronomy and high energy physics (www.iucaa.ernet.in).  Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Ahmedabad  a unit of Department of Space, GOI, is a leading institution engaged in research in several areas of experimental and theoretical physics and earth, planetary, space and atmospheric sciences. Besides its main campus at Ahmedabad it has an astronomy unit at Thaltej, an IR observatory at Mt. Abu and a solar observatory at Udaipur (www.prl.res.in). Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) Bangalore is an autonomous institute funded by DST devoted to research in the area of sun and the solar system, stellar physics, extragalactic astronomy, quasars, and gamma ray burst sources. The institute’s field stations are located at Kodaikanal, Kavalur, Gauribidanur, Hosakote and Hanle (www.iiap.ernet.in). Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Mumbai offers doctoral programme in geomagnetism and allied fields of plasma physics, atmospheric and space physics. IIG has an equatorial Geophysical Research laboratory at Allahabad. The Institute also operates ten modern magnetic observatories at various locations in India (http://www.iigm.res.in). Raman Research Institute, Bangalore is an autonomous organization funded by DST. The institute has active research programmes in the areas of astronomy and astrophysics, optics, soft condensed matter physics and theoretical physics (http://www.rri.res.in). Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata is an autonomous institute funded by DST. The main research areas include cosmology and mesoscopic systems. Aryabhatta Research Institute of Experimental Sciences (ARIES) Nainital provides research facility in a few selected areas of astrophysics and atmospheric sciences. In addition to the usual selection through JEST, IUCAA and NCRA also conduct their own admission test INAT.

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) has been recently set up under Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in the vicinity of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thiruvananthpuram. IIST offers B.Tech. in Space Technology (the two specializations on offer at present are Avionics and Aerospace engineering), integrated masters in applied science with special emphasis on space related subjects, post graduate, doctoral and post doctoral programme in space science. The admission is through IIT-JEE.  The Space Physics Laboratory of VSSC provides research opportunities in different disciplines of atmospheric sciences. These include boundary layer physics, aerosols and radiation, atmospheric dynamics, upper atmospheric and planetary atmospheric physics. Some other good higher studies options related to astronomy for graduates in physics and mathematics are masters in Meteorology, Space Physics etc.  Cochin university of Science & Technology offers masters in Meteorology and M.Tech.  in Atmospheric sciences. M.Sc. in atmospheric science is available at Kurukshetra University. Andhra University provides Master of Science degree in meteorology and space physics.

Job Prospects: Astronomers and astrophysicists generally find openings in research institutes, space organizations, observatories, Planetaria, science museums and universities. Research scholars working in the field relevant to ISRO can register online for possible employment in ISRO.  For a job in Planetarium and Science centre al degree/diploma in science communication is added advantage Science museum and planetarium are great tools of education and science popularization.