What do observational astronomers do?

Astronomers are people who apply the scientific method to better understand the universe we live in. It really is that simple. Anyone who ever wondered what is out there beyond our home planet, who ever looked at the sky and tried to understand it by thinking about what observing the heavens tells us and who is willing to accept only answers based on observations as the truth is an astronomer. No wonder astronomy is the oldest science, dating back to the dawn of humankind.

Today's professional astronomers, also known as astrophysicists, are highly educated scientists, usually with a doctoral degree (a Ph.D.), who earn their living by unveiling the mysteries of the universe, teaching others about them, and developing technology that allows us to to study the universe in even deeper and more detailed ways. Astronomers are motivated mostly by their own curiosity and desire to understand how nature works at its most fundamental levels. Society is motivated to fund astronomical research because of the many benefits that come from advancing scientific knowledge in all fields and maintaining a highly skilled scientific workforce. Astronomers are usually employed by universities as professors or research scientists or by governmental organizations such as NASA or the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO). A small number of astronomers are employed by independent private research organizations such as the Carnegie Institution for Science.

There are a multitude of sub-fields within astronomy. As a broad class, observational astronomers focus on learning more about astronomical objects by carefully designing and carrying out observations using powerful telescopes. The goal of these observations may be to test out a hypothesis about the physics of a certain type of astronomical object or to explore yet unknown aspects of our universe. As an observational astronomer I spend a few weeks of the year at observatories gathering data. The rest of the time is spent analyzing that data, developing new computer and mathematical tools to help me understand what the data are telling me, and publishing results. Astronomers often specialize in studying very specific classes of objects and also specialize in the techniques they use. I talk a little bit about the science I specialize on the other parts of this website.