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Anyone who has seen the dark night sky is stirred by the sight of countless stars stretching off into infinity. The sight stirs not only the soul, but the intellect. What are all those things? How didthey get there? What might this have to do with our existence on earth? Rather than idly wonderingabout these Big Questions, astronomers answer them. Astronomy today is a large, fast-movingenterprise, in which new instruments and theories are constantly evolving. We live in a golden age of science, and astronomy is enjoying more than its share of breakthroughs. As an astronomy major, you will come to understand how much of this works, and you will have opportunities to make your own contribution to humankind's understanding of the cosmos (you may wish to skip ahead to "Dartmouth Astronomy Research Opportunities", below). What is Astronomy?The astronomy major is under the umbrella of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Until recently, a separated major wasn't available. You may wonder, then, what astronomy is, and how it relates to the other subject in the department, physics. Astronomy is among the oldest of sciences. In the Renaissance the clean, mathematically predictable motions of the planets played a decisive role in the birth of physics. Physics and astronomy became even more closely joined as discoveries in atomic physics opened the path to understanding the true nature of the stars, and the development of nuclear physics finally made it possible to understand how they shine for so long. Over the past twenty years or so it has become clear that astronomical observations may be the only way to get at certain very big questions in fundamental physics, since the conditions of the Big Bang may never be replicated. Even though astronomy and physics are intimately co-mingled, they are not quite the same. The fundamental aim of physics is to uncover the fundamental laws of Nature, and to apply these rules in situations where they are helpful. Astronomy, in contrast, is concerned with a particular object which we find -- the Universe -- and everything in it, in much the same way that geology is concerned with a particular object, in that case the earth. There is a discipline of geophysics, just as there's a discipline of astrophysics, but in geophysics and astrophysics, the physics is often not an end in itself, but rather a tool used to understand what is there. Physics is used in the design of instruments, the interpretation of the data the instruments produce, and finally in the construction of the grand theories which explain the evolution of stars, galaxies, and the universe (or the earth!).
Other disciplines come into play as well. Computers are used at every step of the way, not just to
simulate physical situations, but to deal with the reams of data modern instruments produce. Some
astronomers specialize in telescope and instrument building, and become very good engineers. Even
chemistry has its place in understanding molecular clouds in space, cool stellar atmospheres, and the
composition of planets. And because randomness is everywhere, both in the sky and in our data, some
astronomers make very clever use of statistics. Astronomy is not a mere subfield of physics, but a
truly interdisciplinary quest to understand the universe.
There are plenty of career opportunities for astronomy majors. If you're talented, commit yourself strongly, and work hard, you may end up as a professional astronomer. Many of these are astronomy professors; others work as researchers for NASA or other research organizations. Virtually everyone in such a position has a Ph.D. in astronomy or physics, so to be a professional you'd need to go to graduate school. The number of new astronomy Ph.D.s generally outstrips the number of permanent jobs, so not everyone who wants to be an astronomer gets to be one. Nonetheless, the situation isn't as bad as people used to think it would be, and there are always jobs for the very best people. And even if you don't `make the cut' somewhere along the way, you still get to work in astronomy for a while -- after the first year or two, graduate school is more like an apprentice scientist program rather than an academic grind, and it can be lots of fun. In addition, nearly all graduate programs pay modest stipends, so unlike your friends in (say) medical school, you don't need to accumulate heavy debts. There are some jobs which require only an undergraduate degree in astronomy, but they are rather more limited. Observatories often seek support personnel with astronomy majors, but without advanced degrees. The NASA centers (such as the Space Telescope Science Institute) also employ bachelor's degree holders in support roles. It's fairly common for astronomy majors to get one of these jobs and take a breather for a while as they evaluate their career plans; many go on to graduate school. But even if you don't decide to stay in astronomy, there's plenty you can do. Given the amount of science you will take anyway, it's a fairly simple matter to (for example) fulfill pre-medical requirements and head for medical school. Astronomers need to understand complicated arguments from principle, which is an excellent background for the study of law. With an astronomy background, you would most likely find the much-feared "quantitative" parts of a business school curriculum to be relatively straightforward. To a prospective employer, an astronomy major will stand out from the great herd of history, government, and English majors who troop through their interviews. Dartmouth isn't a place which encourages narrow, pre-professional training, but the talents and habits of mind you create studying astronomy are useful in a wide range of endeavors.
You may want to check out further material from the American Astronomical Society, available at
http://www.aas.org/education/.
Daniel Webster may have said that Dartmouth is a "small College'', but it is in reality a small University with a small graduate program. In the Department of Physics and Astronomy we try to offer the undergraduate student an experience which combines individual attention from faculty and access to real front-line research -- in other words, the best aspects of a small college and a large university. Because we have a graduate program, we can maintain a level of research vigor which would be difficult at a purely undergraduate institution, but at the same time we are strongly committed to undergraduate education. Much of the astronomy research at Dartmouth centers around the MDM Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona. This observatory has two telescopes, a 1.3-meter telescope dating from the 1970s and a more modern 2.4-meter reflector. The telescopes are instrumented with modern CCD cameras, spectrographs, and an excellent infrared instrument. The Observatory is owned by Dartmouth, Columbia University, Ohio State University, and the University of Michigan (the initials date from when it was owned by Michigan, Dartmouth, and MIT). Dartmouth has 1/3 of the time on both telescopes, or about 200 nights per year in total. This colossal amount of telescope time makes it possible for interested students to do projects with real research-class telescopes. Astronomy 81 is an independent study course involving a trip to Arizona, typically for a week, to do research at MDM. Occasionally a student may work with another telescope elsewhere, but the MDM connection makes this the most likely choice. This opportunity to do a real project with a big telescope as an undergraduate is very unusual. There is a long lead time for this, since telescope time must be obtained from 3 to 9 months in advance. You should start working with a professor long in advance if you want to take advantage of this option. Faculty with MDM research programs, and their areas of interest, are as follows:
Other students may wish to do theoretical research. There are many opportunities here, too:
The course requirements for the astronomy major include many of the same courses used for a physics major, and the prerequisites are essentially identical. Here is a formal listing of the courses: Prerequisites: Math 3, 8, 13, and 23; Physics 13 and 14 (OR 15 and 16). Major: At least eight courses in physics and astronomy, including:
Physics 17 and an additional elective can be used in place of Physics 23 and 24. Obviously, if you receive AP credit for a prerequisite, you don't have to repeat the course at Dartmouth. For official descriptions of these courses, consult the ORC. Very briefly, the required courses are as follows:
Timing. You should be planning to take Astronomy 15 by the spring of your sophomore year if not before. Note that currently Astronomy 25 is offered in the summer only (but it will move to the fall in 2004). In general, because astronomy is a technical subject, you'll want to start out on the prerequisites as soon as you can -- and if you discover as a first-year student that you can't stand physics, you may wish to reconsider the choice of an astronomy major. Astronomy isn't physics, but they're joined at the hip ... Other courses. If you're intending to go on to grad school, you'll want to take other courses as well. More physics can't hurt, especially if you're theoretically inclined. Note that graduate courses are open to qualified undergraduates -- you may wish to take courses in either physics or astronomy (though, because of limited resources, the graduate astronomy courses tend to be offered every other year).
And don't forget the elementary courses! These don't carry major credit but can play an important educational role.
A relatively straightforward and non-technical course such as Astronomy 2/3 can be a nice change and whet your
appetite for the hard stuff. Astronomy 1 covers planetary science, a topic which isn't treated elsewhere in the
major curriculum. Because these courses don't go into great technical detail, they tend to have more time to cover
qualitative material, which is important general background. All this can be time well spent!
The Astronomy minor has the following course requirements: Prerequisites: Mathematics 3 and 8 or equivalents; Physics 13 and 14 (or 3 and 4, or 15 and 16). Four courses are required in addition to the prerequisites. One of these must be Astronomy 15. The other three are Astronomy 25, 61, and 81. Any physics or astronomy course numbered 20 or above may be substituted for one of these three. Note that Astronomy 25 has Physics 23 and 24 as prerequisites.
If you are thinking of majoring in astronomy, and have any questions, please contact one of the department major
advisers:
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