Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

Astronomers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Observe, research, and interpret astronomical phenomena to increase basic knowledge or apply such information to practical problems.

Related: Biochemists & Biophysicists Geoscientists Mathematicians Physicists Physics Teachers, Postsecondary

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical Government Education

Summary
Details

Serve on professional panels and committees.
Analyze research data to determine its significance, using computers.
Develop instrumentation and software for astronomical observation and analysis.
Develop and modify astronomy-related programs for public presentation.
Conduct question-and-answer presentations on astronomy topics with public audiences.
Measure radio, infrared, gamma, and x-ray emissions from extraterrestrial sources.
Mentor graduate students and junior colleagues.
Direct the operations of a planetarium.
Raise funds for scientific research.
Measure radio, infrared, gamma, and x-ray emissions from extraterrestrial sources.
Supervise students' research on celestial and astronomical phenomena.
Present research findings at scientific conferences and in papers written for scientific journals.
Develop theories based on personal observations or on observations and theories of other astronomers.
Teach astronomy or astrophysics.
Review scientific proposals and research papers.
Study celestial phenomena, using a variety of ground-based and space-borne telescopes and scientific instruments.
Mentor graduate students and junior colleagues.
Collaborate with other astronomers to carry out research projects.

Speaking
- Talking to others.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.

Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

103980/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

49.99/hr

Currently Employed

Yearly Projected Openings

Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:

Analytical Thinking
Persistence
Achievement/Effort
Attention to Detail
Initiative
Integrity

Atomic absorption AA spectrometers
Binoculars
Calorimeters
Cryostats
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Digital readout recorders
Infrared spectrometers
Interferometers
Ionization chambers
Laboratory evaporators
Laboratory mills
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Photometer
Polarizers
Radarbased surveillance systems
Radio antennas
Radio frequency transmitters or receivers
Scientific calculator
Spectrographs
Spectrometers
Telescopes
X ray diffraction equipment

Analytical or scientific software
Data base management system software
Data base user interface and query software
Development environment software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Astronomers jobs Education and Training for Astronomers

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Astronomers

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES