Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ask Slashdot: How To Pick Up Astronomy and Physics As an Adult?

Posted by timothy on from the productive-member-of-socety dept.

First time accepted submitter samalex01 (1290786) writes "I'm 38, married, two young kids, and I have a nice job in the IT industry, but since I was a kid I've had this deep love and passion for astronomy and astrophysics. This love and passion though never evolved into any formal education or anything beyond just a distant fascination as I got out of high school, into college, and started going through life on more of an IT career path. So my question, now that I'm 38 is there any hope that I could start learning more about astronomy or physics to make it more than just a hobby? I don't expect to be a Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson, but I'd love to have enough knowledge in these subjects to research and experiment to the point where I could possibly start contributing back to the field. MIT Open Courseware has some online courses for free that cover these topics, but given I can only spend maybe 10 hours a week on this would it be a pointless venture? Not to mention my mind isn't as sharp now as it was 20 years ago when I graduated high school. Thanks for any advice or suggestions."

2 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Telescopes and camping or night-tours by TWX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Honestly, one of the most exciting things that I did was to take an overnight tour at Kitt Peak. They've dedicated one of their older optical telescopes that's not really adequate for leading-edge science anymore to use for public outreach, and seeing the Jovian moons so clearly was very exciting and made it easier to want to continue.

    It's probably safe to accept that you'll be a consumer of science rather than a producer of it, but that's okay. Go camping with a large telescope and enjoy the world. Buy books or programs that let you track the objects of the night sky. Look at what NASA, the ESA, and IAU release.

    If you're lucky you'll identify a new asteroid or comet.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  2. Just do it. by khasim · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't expect to be a Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson, but I'd love to have enough knowledge in these subjects to research and experiment to the point where I could possibly start contributing back to the field.

    Look up "Galaxy Zoo". You can start contributing today.

    As for classes, start reading. Find out which books are used for the courses and buy the books and read them even if you cannot take the courses.