I'm not in the field, both are hobbies for me. If your looking for a position in the one fields I would forget it. Their are very few openings in the respective fields and from my reading you need to make a name for yourself in either discipline by time you are in your twenties.
For a hobby pursuit I would start with either a local planetarium or community college intro to astronomy class. While there ask about any local astronomy clubs. It's been my experience that the members are more than happy to offer any advice they can.
If you Google amateur astronomy projects you'll find lists of projects that an amateur can collaborate on .
"The Theoretical Minimum" is a good selection for the math behind general physics. If your interest is leaning towards astrophysics I'd like to suggest:
"Astrophysics is Easy" by Mike Inglis
or
"Essential Astrophysics" by Ken Lang
They're both geared to the amateur astronomer.
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I'm not in the field, both are hobbies for me. If your looking for a position in the one fields I would forget it. Their are very few openings in the respective fields and from my reading you need to make a name for yourself in either discipline by time you are in your twenties. For a hobby pursuit I would start with either a local planetarium or community college intro to astronomy class. While there ask about any local astronomy clubs. It's been my experience that the members are more than happy to offer any advice they can. If you Google amateur astronomy projects you'll find lists of projects that an amateur can collaborate on .
"The Theoretical Minimum" is a good selection for the math behind general physics. If your interest is leaning towards astrophysics I'd like to suggest: "Astrophysics is Easy" by Mike Inglis or "Essential Astrophysics" by Ken Lang They're both geared to the amateur astronomer.