Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to explain the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. It has two sibling sciences, astronomy and cosmology, and the lines between them blur.
In the most rigid sense:
In practice, the three professions form a tight-knit family. Ask for the position of a nebula or what kind of light it emits, and the astronomer might answer first. Ask what the nebula is made of and how it formed and the astrophysicist will pipe up. Ask how the data fit with the formation of the universe, and the cosmologist would probably jump in. But watch out for any of these questions, two or three may start talking at once!
Astrophysicists seek to understand the universe and our place in it. At NASA, the goals of astrophysics are "to discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars," according NASA's website.
NASA states that those goals produce three broad questions:
While astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, theoretical astrophysics began with Isaac Newton. Prior to Newton, astronomers described the motions of heavenly bodies using complex mathematical models without a physical basis. Newton showed that a single theory simultaneously explains the orbits of moons and planets in space and the trajectory of a cannonball on Earth. This added to the body of evidence for the (then) startling conclusion that the heavens and Earth are subject to the same physical laws.
Perhaps what most completely separated Newton's model from previous ones is that it is predictive as well as descriptive. Based on aberrations in the orbit of Uranus, astronomers predicted the position of a new planet, which was then observed and named Neptune. Being predictive as well as descriptive is the sign of a mature science, and astrophysics is in this category.
Because the only way we interact with distant objects is by observing the radiation they emit, much of astrophysics has to do with deducing theories that explain the mechanisms that produce this radiation, and provide ideas for how to extract the most information from it. The first ideas about the nature of stars emerged in the mid-19th century from the blossoming science of spectral analysis, which means observing the specific frequencies of light that particular substances absorb and emit when heated. Spectral analysis remains essential to the triumvirate of space sciences, both guiding and testing new theories.
Early spectroscopy provided the first evidence that stars contain substances also present on Earth. Spectroscopy revealed that some nebulae are purely gaseous, while some contain stars. This later helped cement the idea that some nebulae were not nebulae at all they were other galaxies!
In the early 1920s, Cecilia Payne discovered, using spectroscopy, that stars are predominantly hydrogen (at least until their old age). The spectra of stars also allowed astrophysicists to determine the speed at which they move toward or away from Earth. Just like the sound a vehicle emits is different moving toward us or away from us, because of the Doppler shift, the spectra of stars will change in the same way. In the 1930s, by combining the Doppler shift and Einstein's theory of general relativity, Edwin Hubble provided solid evidence that the universe is expanding. This is also predicted by Einstein's theory, and together form the basis of the Big Bang Theory.
Also in the mid-19th century, the physicists Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) and Gustav Von Helmholtz speculated that gravitational collapse could power the sun, but eventually realized that energy produced this way would only last 100,000 years. Fifty years later, Einstein's famous E=mc2 equation gave astrophysicists the first clue to what the true source of energy might be (although it turns out that gravitational collapse does play an important role). As nuclear physics, quantum mechanics and particle physics grew in the first half of the 20th century, it became possible to formulate theories for how nuclear fusion could power stars. These theories describe how stars form, live and die, and successfully explain the observed distribution of types of stars, their spectra, luminosities, ages and other features.
Astrophysics is the physics of stars and other distant bodies in the universe, but it also hits close to home. According to the Big Bang Theory, the first stars were almost entirely hydrogen. The nuclear fusion process that energizes them smashes together hydrogen atoms to form the heavier element helium. In 1957, the husband-and-wife astronomer team of Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge, along with physicists William Alfred Fowler and Fred Hoyle, showed how, as stars age, they produce heavier and heavier elements, which they pass on to later generations of stars in ever-greater quantities. It is only in the final stages of the lives of more recent stars that the elements making up the Earth, such as iron (32.1 percent), oxygen (30.1 percent), silicon (15.1 percent), are produced. Another of these elements is carbon, which together with oxygen, make up the bulk of the mass of all living things, including us. Thus, astrophysics tells us that, while we are not all stars, we are all stardust.
Becoming an astrophysicist requires years of observation, training and work. But you can start becoming involved in a small way even in elementary and high school, by joining astronomy clubs, attending local astronomy events, taking free online courses in astronomy and astrophysics, and keeping up with news in the field on a website such as Space.com.
In college, students should aim to (eventually) complete a doctorate in astrophysics, and then take on a post-doctoral position in astrophysics. Astrophysicists can work for the government, university labs and, occasionally, private organizations.
Study.com further recommends the following steps to put you on the path to being an astrophysicist:
Take math and science classes all through high school. Make sure to take a wide variety of science classes. Astronomy and astrophysics often blend elements of biology, chemistry and other sciences to better understand phenomena in the universe. Also keep an eye out for any summer jobs or internships in math or science. Even volunteer work can help bolster your resume.
Pursue a math- or science-related bachelor's degree. While a bachelor in astrophysics is the ideal, there are many other paths to that field. You can do undergraduate study in computer science, for example, which is important to help you analyze data. It's best to speak to your high school guidance counselor or local university to find out what degree programs will help you.
Take on research opportunities. Many universities have labs in which students participate in discoveries and sometimes even get published. Agencies such as NASA also offer internships from time to time.
Finish a doctorate in astrophysics. A Ph.D. is a long haul, but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics points out that most astrophysicists do have a doctoral degree. Make sure to include courses in astronomy, computer science, mathematics, physics and statistics to have a wide base of knowledge.
Natalie Hinkel, a planetary astrophysicist who was then at Arizona State University, gave a lengthy interview with Lifehacker in 2015 that provided a glimpse into the rewards and challenges of being a junior astrophysics researcher. She described the long number of years she has put into doing her research, the frequent job switches, her work hours and what it's like to be a woman in a competitive field. She also had an interesting insight about what she actually did day to day. Very little of her time is spent at the telescope.
"I spend the vast majority of my time programming. Most people assume that astronomers spend all of their time at telescopes, but that's only a very small fraction of the job, if at all. I do some observations, but in the past few years I've only been observing twice for a total of about two weeks," Hinkel told Lifehacker.
"Once you get the data, you have to reduce it (i.e. take out the bad parts and process it for real information), usually combine it with other data in order to see the whole picture, and then write a paper about your findings. Since each observation run typically yields data from multiple stars, you don't need to spend all of your time at the telescope to have enough work."
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com contributor.
Additional resources
See the original post:
- Widespread Report on the Global Refracting Telescope Market 2020-2028 with the Leading Players Celestron, Vixen Optics, ASTRO-PHYSICS, ORION, Barska,... - September 8th, 2020
- UK Part of New NSF Physics Frontier Center Focused on Neutron Star Modeling in 'Gravitational Wave Era' - UKNow - September 8th, 2020
- University subject profile: physics - The Guardian - September 8th, 2020
- This triple star system warped the protoplanetary discs around it, new research says - CTV News - September 8th, 2020
- Scientists discover first 'intermediate-mass' black hole in massive merger - Big Think - September 8th, 2020
- Looking skin deep at the growth of neutron stars - Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom - September 8th, 2020
- Scientists detect massive galactic collision between black holes that "aren't supposed to exist" - Boing Boing - September 8th, 2020
- China's secretive 'space plane' makes successful return to Earth - CNET - September 8th, 2020
- New High-Res Images of The Sun Show How Creepy Sunspots Look in Closeup - ScienceAlert - September 6th, 2020
- The End of the Universe Will Probably Be Fairly Disappointing - WIRED - September 6th, 2020
- Zooming In Tight on Dark Matter Equivalent of Being Able to See a Flea on the Surface of the Moon - SciTechDaily - September 6th, 2020
- Indian astronomers discover one of the farthest star galaxies in universe - Livemint - September 6th, 2020
- Astronomers Spot a Black Hole so Massive They Werent Sure it Could Exist - Gizmodo Australia - September 6th, 2020
- Space discoveries that will blow your mind | News | helenair.com - Helena Independent Record - September 6th, 2020
- How neutrons and protons arrange themselves in the nucleus? - Tech Explorist - September 6th, 2020
- Warped gas disc torn apart by three stars directly observed for the first time - ZME Science - September 6th, 2020
- Kentucky by Heart: Many Kentuckians have made their mark in fields of science and technology - User-generated content - September 6th, 2020
- Q&A with Astrophysics Professor, Viktor Ambartsumian International Science Prize winner Adam Burrows - The Daily Princetonian - August 17th, 2020
- Astro Bob: Hubble helps solve the mystery of why Betelgeuse faded - Duluth News Tribune - August 17th, 2020
- The Alternative to Dark Matter May be General Relativity Itself - Astrobites - August 17th, 2020
- This is the way the universe ends: not with a whimper, but a bang - Science Magazine - August 17th, 2020
- The Week of August 17, 2020 - FYI: Science Policy News - August 17th, 2020
- Nearly $13 million in federal funding awarded to University of Rochester for Physics Frontier Center - WWTI - InformNNY.com - August 17th, 2020
- The Last Supernovae - Universe Today - August 17th, 2020
- Astronomers find Milky Way look-alike galaxy 12 billion light-years away - BusinessLine - August 17th, 2020
- Dark Matter Breakthrough Allows Probing Three of the Most Popular Theories, All at the Same Time - SciTechDaily - August 17th, 2020
- Exploding Black Dwarfs Could Be the 'Last Interesting Thing to Happen in the Universe' - Gizmodo UK - August 17th, 2020
- Security Inspection Equipment Market is slated to grow rapidly in the coming years Astrophysics, Smiths Detection, Garrett, C.E.I.A., Rapiscan Systems... - August 17th, 2020
- Lovely Professional Universitys Aerospace Engineering student wins international award - The Tribune India - August 17th, 2020
- Minecraft, Bollywood Dance, and Astrophysics Help College Students Connect With Kids Online - NBC Bay Area - August 10th, 2020
- UR #26: Improved Methods for Ground-Based Follow-Up of Young Stars and Planets from the ZEIT Survey - Astrobites - August 10th, 2020
- Investigating the far-flung reaches of the universe - Times Higher Education (THE) - August 10th, 2020
- Alien life bombshell: Scientist says we will find intelligent life 'within our lifetimes' - Daily Express - August 10th, 2020
- Space roar: NASA detected the loudest sound in the universe, but what is it? - Space.com - August 10th, 2020
- From exploring immigrant identities to treating cancer: U of T awarded 29 Canada Research Chairs - News@UofT - August 10th, 2020
- A deep, giant cloud disruption found on Venus - EarthSky - August 10th, 2020
- Astronomers Sink Their Teeth Into Special Supernova Exploding Stars Produce the Calcium in Our Bones and Teeth - SciTechDaily - August 10th, 2020
- Mysterious 'fast radio burst' detected closer to Earth than ever before - Live Science - August 10th, 2020
- Half of All the Calcium in the Universe: Unprecedented Observations Shine Light on a Dying Stars Final Moments - SciTechDaily - August 10th, 2020
- Rapid Changes Detected in a Black Hole May Explain Origin of the Most Energetic Radiation in the Universe - SciTechDaily - August 10th, 2020
- Astrophysics - Wikipedia - August 10th, 2020
- NASA Astrophysics | Science Mission Directorate - August 10th, 2020
- Astro-Physics - Buy Telescopes - August 10th, 2020
- An Epic, Planet-Scale Wave Has Been Hiding in The Toxic Clouds of Venus For Decades - ScienceAlert - August 10th, 2020
- Beyond the Fermi Paradox V: What is the Aestivation Hypothesis? - Universe Today - August 10th, 2020
- 'Roaming reactions' study to shed new light on atmospheric molecules - UNSW Newsroom - August 10th, 2020
- From the Italian Renaissance to the stars: an exciting approach to fulfilling GEs > News > USC Dornsife - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts... - August 8th, 2020
- This Is How It All Ends - The New York Times - August 8th, 2020
- Ben Collins The Stig Top Gear | Surrey - Surrey Life - August 8th, 2020
- Mega Science On The Cover: Class XI Maharashtra Physics Text Shows Gravitational-Wave Detection By LIGO - Swarajya - August 8th, 2020
- Scientists May Have Just Found The Youngest Neutron Star Ever - Forbes - August 8th, 2020
- 'Roaming reactions' study to shed new light on atmospheric molecules - Science Codex - August 8th, 2020
- 'A space race of sorts': Stanford Space Initiative hopes to cross into space with a 'rockoon' - The Stanford Daily - August 8th, 2020
- From the Manhattan Project, a legacy of discovery and a national burden - Stars and Stripes - August 8th, 2020
- Beyond: Dilhan Eryurt and the Formation of the Sun - Astrobites - August 7th, 2020
- Whats The Loudest Sound In The Universe? - Gizmodo Australia - August 7th, 2020
- Airport Automated Security Screening Systems Market Manufacturers Overview 2020-2027 over the Worldwide Regional Analysis of Industry Trends and... - August 7th, 2020
- From the Manhattan Project, a legacy of discovery and a national burden - Stripes Korea - August 7th, 2020
- Security Inspection Equipment Market 2020 Analysis by Geographical Regions, Type and Application Till 2025 with Top Key Players:Astrophysics, Smiths... - August 7th, 2020
- 7 safe and socially distant things to do in Denver this weekend - The Denver Channel - August 5th, 2020
- Mystery radio signal sent to Earth from closest ever point within Milky Way - New York Post - August 5th, 2020
- Dark Energy Survey census of the smallest galaxies hones the search for dark matter - Stanford University News - August 5th, 2020
- MLB Has Made No Changes To The Baseball And Doesnt Plan To For 2020 - Forbes - August 5th, 2020
- 'The Umbrella Academy 2': Who Plays Lila on the Netflix Series and What Else Has She Been In? - Showbiz Cheat Sheet - August 5th, 2020
- Christopher Keane to serve as chair of the APLU Council on Research - WSU News - August 5th, 2020
- Physicists Measured The Central Engine That Powers Solar Flares For The First Time - ScienceAlert - August 5th, 2020
- Cosmic tango between the very small and the very large - ScienceBlog.com - August 3rd, 2020
- Telescope Market Report 2020: Acute Analysis of Global Demand and Supply 2025 with Major Key Player: Celestron, Meade, Vixen Optics, TAKAHASHI,... - August 3rd, 2020
- NASA Is Blasting Just the Biggest Balloon Into the Stratosphere - Popular Mechanics - August 3rd, 2020
- The universe is nearly 10 percent more homogeneous than expected - Tech Explorist - August 3rd, 2020
- Stadium-sized balloon to carry NASA telescope to the edge of space - New Atlas - August 3rd, 2020
- Security Inspection Equipment Market to witness Massive Growth by 2025 - Bulletin Line - August 1st, 2020
- Differences between discs of active and non-active galaxies detected for the first time - Science Codex - August 1st, 2020
- Megaripple Migration Offers Insights into Martian Atmosphere - Eos - August 1st, 2020
- Football Stadium-Sized Balloon To Carry NASA's Cutting-Edge Astrophysics Observations Telescope To Stratosphere - Swarajya - July 31st, 2020
- Oldest surviving light reveals the universe's true age - Space.com - July 31st, 2020
- Top 5 Stargazing Sites in the DMV Region (Your Backyard Is the 6th!) - Our Community Now at Colorado - July 31st, 2020
- Russia Accused Of Firing Anti-Satellite Weapon From One Of Its Satellites In Space - Forbes - July 31st, 2020
- Astrophysics Black holes had been created initially of all the things they usually had been partly light-bringers - Pledge Times - July 31st, 2020
- We might have dozens of contactable Alien neighbors - SBS - July 31st, 2020