How Much Money Do Astronomers Make?

[Fat Man]

Well, this just shows what kind of values our moronic and morally corrupt society embraces.

As we know, the typical professional football player gets paid about 5 million dollars per year just for kicking a stupid ball around, and he even get a free Hummer after his raped someone's sister or daughter, and he gets to park his $100,000 dollar Hummer all day long in a 15 minute parking zone, and he never has to worry about getting a ticket, or having his vehicle towed away, even though the fucker belongs in prison getting the crap beat out of him every day and twice on Sundays, because rapists, like pedophiles are at the bottom of the pecking order in our prisons.

But, a professional football player never has to worry about that. All women are his property!

Anyway . . . . .

I came across this web site which states how much a professional Astronomer make in a year.
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=23

How much money do astronomers make?

I hear that astronomers don't make a lot of money. What is the salary like?

According to the American Institute of Physics the average salary for a Physics PhD. was about $78,000 in 2000. A post-doc right out of graduate school is about $36,000 a year in physics. Salaries for astronomers are comparable.

2005 Update by Karen.

In 2004, the equivalent numbers were a typical salary of $60,000-$100,000 for a Physics PhD, and typical salary $35,000-$42,000 for a post-doc right out of graduate school. You can find these numbers yourself on the AIP statistics website, where they should be updated once a year.

In other words, if your plan is to become a rich astronomer, you should probably reconsider. If you're a smart person, you can make a lot more money in another career that is just as challenging and interesting as astronomy. The only reason to do astronomy is because you're totally in love with it. If you aren't, you'll be miserable . . . and you won't have a lot of money to console yourself.

Well, if I had been allowed to finish school, and if I had been able to complete my degree, then I probably would be making approximately $80,000 dollars per year, which is between $60,000 to $100,000 dollars per year.

And $80,000 dollars per year would be about 10 times what I'm getting now on my lousy little disability pension.

I would be perfectly happy and contented being a professional astronomer working in an observatory some where, like, either Mount Wilson or Mount Palomar Observatory in California, or the McDonald Observatory here in the State of Texas.


The 100 inch telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California.


The 200 inch telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory in California.


The McDonald Observatory complex in Texas.

Who knows where I could have been working now.

So what, if some mother fucking low-life scum-bag football playing piece of inhuman garbage makes about about 62.5 times as much money every year as a professional astronomer, or about 625 times what I'm getting right now on my lousy disability check!

Hey! I love astronomy so much, that if some professional astronomer were looking for an assistant to help him, like developing photographic plates in the darkroom, or any task, no matter how menial it might be, Hell, I would even do it without pay just so I could be in the environment.

But, NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I had to live in the USA where most citizens are sports obsessed low-grade morons who do not understand science, believe in Creationist fairy tales, and were anybody who is interested in science and has no interest in sports get called a fag or unpatriotic, and gets the crap beaten out of him.

When I was a kid going to school, I loved reading books on astronomy. It was the thing I loved most in life.

But, as I looked to the sky, I got knocked down, and beaten down, and got my nose rubbed in the dirt!!!

Our schools care more about about sports and athletics, much more than academics.

FUCK YOU AMERICA! I HATE YOU!

Astronomy is beautiful!

Football, and all sports are ugly and smell bad!

And now . . . . . we have all these low-life scum-sucking child molesting baby fucking low grade morons in our Republican (Retardican) party who are bed-wetting ignoramuses and anti-science brain-dead right-wing Christard Funny-mentalists who want to insert their Creationist fairy tales from the BUY-BULL into high school science textbooks.

I'm sorry, but I guess I am becoming a bitter and angry old man!

[Earl]

Like rock stars and Hollywood actors, professional athletes are entertainers; and the most popular entertainers become filthy rich. If there were a great demand by the public for dogs that could do tricks, the owners of such dogs would also become filthy rich. You know, the law of supply and demand. We live in an imperfect world of imperfect people. I live with my own imperfection (at least as I view myself), and sometimes it hurts. I believe that my highly conscientious older daughter, who teaches high-school math classes, deserves more pay than she receives; but that won't happen. It's just a fact of life.

[recovering_fan]

The official Republican position is that the market has no imperfections; in other words, everyone's income is exactly proportional to that person's contribution to the greater good of society.

Old-school Democrats, on the other hand, understand that the results of the game are not fair. They also understand that society's drop-outs are people who have figured out that the game is not fair and that there is pretty much nothing in the game for the poor which might make the game worth playing. That is why the poor don't want to work: because they have figured out that there is pretty much no point. You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't.

At this point, though, I am so fed up with the Democratic Party's lack of initiative on behalf of the poor that I have decided to try a new voting strategy. I've decided that I'm going to try to vote as many women into power as I can, because I think that if they get elected en masse, things will finally take a turn for the better. When it's a choice between two women, then of course I'll fall back on my old pattern of voting Democratic, but if a Republican woman runs against a man, I'll vote for the woman. That means I'll vote for Bachmann in the Republican primary if she's the only female in either primary, and if she runs against Obama in the general election I'll vote for her at that stage as well.

[Fat Man]

Like rock stars and Hollywood actors, professional athletes are entertainers; and the most popular entertainers become filthy rich. If there were a great demand by the public for dogs that could do tricks, the owners of such dogs would also become filthy rich. You know, the law of supply and demand. We live in an imperfect world of imperfect people. I live with my own imperfection (at least as I view myself), and sometimes it hurts. I believe that my highly conscientious older daughter, who teaches high-school math classes, deserves more pay than she receives; but that won't happen. It's just a fact of life.

That's what I mean. Sports is more highly valued than education.

Yet, it's the quality of education that determines what the future is going to be for us living in a complex technological society. All of the technological marvels we all enjoy today, like our computers, ipods, cellphones, flat screen digital TVs, all the really cool toys we like to play with so much, would not be possible without science.

But we are neglecting science education in our schools for the sake of sports and childish entertainment.

The USA is just one great big dog and pony show!

========================================

OK, I'm now going to respond to the next forum post in heavy blue text.

The official Republican position is that the market has no imperfections; in other words, everyone's income is exactly proportional to that person's contribution to the greater good of society.

So, apparently the Republicans think that scoring a touchdown or putting a ball through a metal hoop is a much greater contribution to the greater good of society, than say, well, I don't know, perhaps . . . . . SCIENCE???

Old-school Democrats, on the other hand, understand that the results of the game are not fair. They also understand that society's drop-outs are people who have figured out that the game is not fair and that there is pretty much nothing in the game for the poor which might make the game worth playing. That is why the poor don't want to work: because they have figured out that there is pretty much no point. You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't.

Yeah, like, who wants to bag groceries or flip burgers for minimum wage for the rest of one's life? Who want's to be stuck in some dead-end job with no hope of any advancement?

At this point, though, I am so fed up with the Democratic Party's lack of initiative on behalf of the poor that I have decided to try a new voting strategy. I've decided that I'm going to try to vote as many women into power as I can, because I think that if they get elected en masse, things will finally take a turn for the better. When it's a choice between two women, then of course I'll fall back on my old pattern of voting Democratic, but if a Republican woman runs against a man, I'll vote for the woman. That means I'll vote for Bachmann in the Republican primary if she's the only female in either primary, and if she runs against Obama in the general election I'll vote for her at that stage as well.

Well, you might seriously want to reconsider voting for Michele Bachmann. She once publicly made a comment that black families were better off under slavery, because many black children are now raised in single parent families with no father present.

It's obvious that she must have flunked history in high school, because, even when I was only in the 3rd grade I knew better than that. The fact is, that when blacks were sold off in the slave auctions, families were broken up. Husband and wife were separated, and children were taken from their parents.

Yet, she still says blacks were better off under slavery.

Yeah! They must have been really well off when they were getting whipped across their bear backs and kept in chains!

Sorry, but she is fucking pig ignorant!!!

She must have flunked all her high school classes, because she was probably just some bimbo slut with the IQ of a steam iron who would spread her legs apart for all the jocks in her school.

And Sarah Palin, the helicopter huntress is no better. She's a moronic Christard Funny-mentalist who believes that the earth is only 6000 years old, and that Noah had dinosaurs aboard the ark!

Also, when she was Mayer of her hometown in Alaska, she once inquired if the head librarian of the town's public library could be fired, and if certain books could be removed from the library.

Like the rest of the Republican party, they're both anti-science.

If either one gets into the Oval Office, they'll probably have all the scientists laid off, and they'll end up homeless standing in the soup lines, and the soup will be taken away, while all the jocks will be given gold-plated Hummers!

No, I would much rather vote for Obama again than to have either one of those two drooling morons having the red telephone within their reach.

Or, carrying . . .

. . . THE FOOTBALL!!!

[recovering_fan]

Old-school Democrats, on the other hand, understand that the results of the game are not fair. They also understand that society's drop-outs are people who have figured out that the game is not fair and that there is pretty much nothing in the game for the poor which might make the game worth playing. That is why the poor don't want to work: because they have figured out that there is pretty much no point. You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't.

Yeah, like, who wants to bag groceries or flip burgers for minimum wage for the rest of one's life? Who want's to be stuck in some dead-end job with no hope of any advancement?

That's what rich conservaturds don't get. The poor aren't asking for an equal 50-50 split necessarily, but a 0-100 split in terms of life's enjoyments is simply unacceptable to them, and it should be unacceptable. It is not laziness to drag your feet when walking into a game where you've been given utterly no chance. If the rightwingers get elected, watch the country disintegrate into anarchy. Our leaders will have no legitimacy if they try to pass some of the legislation the rightwingers want to pass. People may simply stop following the Right's bullshit laws.

Still, I'm sick of giving Obama a pass "just because..."

Check out this video where he caves to Wall Street by not appointing Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekbQ-XFUW3w

She worked valiantly to set up that bureau to protect the little guy from loan sharks, and Obama made sure to handcuff the bureau so that it wouldn't have all the clout it should have had.

[Fat Man]

Old-school Democrats, on the other hand, understand that the results of the game are not fair. They also understand that society's drop-outs are people who have figured out that the game is not fair and that there is pretty much nothing in the game for the poor which might make the game worth playing. That is why the poor don't want to work: because they have figured out that there is pretty much no point. You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't.

Yeah, like, who wants to bag groceries or flip burgers for minimum wage for the rest of one's life? Who want's to be stuck in some dead-end job with no hope of any advancement?

That's what rich conservaturds don't get. The poor aren't asking for an equal 50-50 split necessarily, but a 0-100 split in terms of life's enjoyments is simply unacceptable to them, and it should be unacceptable. It is not laziness to drag your feet when walking into a game where you've been given utterly no chance. If the rightwingers get elected, watch the country disintegrate into anarchy. Our leaders will have no legitimacy if they try to pass some of the legislation the rightwingers want to pass. People may simply stop following the Right's bullshit laws.

Still, I'm sick of giving Obama a pass "just because..."

Check out this video where he caves to Wall Street by not appointing Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekbQ-XFUW3w

She worked valiantly to set up that bureau to protect the little guy from loan sharks, and Obama made sure to handcuff the bureau so that it wouldn't have all the clout it should have had.

Yes, I just saw the video.

Obama has no balls!!!

He's breaking under pressure from the right-wing Retartican conservatards.

Hmmmmm. Who to vote for.

It's come down to the lesser of two evils.

But, I certainly don't want either Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin.

Hillery Clinton is a bitch, I can't stand her either, but even she would be far better than Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin.

The way I feel right now, if Hillery Clinton were running for President I'd vote for her in a New York minute, even if she is a bitch!

Anybody has got to be better than Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin.

I would not vote Republican for love of money!

There's probably not a dry pair of pants among them!

[ChrisOH]

Yeah, like, who wants to bag groceries or flip burgers for minimum wage for the rest of one's life? Who want's to be stuck in some dead-end job with no hope of any advancement?

That's what rich conservaturds don't get. The poor aren't asking for an equal 50-50 split necessarily, but a 0-100 split in terms of life's enjoyments is simply unacceptable to them, and it should be unacceptable. It is not laziness to drag your feet when walking into a game where you've been given utterly no chance. If the rightwingers get elected, watch the country disintegrate into anarchy. Our leaders will have no legitimacy if they try to pass some of the legislation the rightwingers want to pass. People may simply stop following the Right's bullshit laws.

Exactly. Conservatives always complain about our "freedoms" being taken away; however, in the current economic climate, if I can't find a job or don't like the one I have, what choice do I have? I can't just "go out and get another job" (as one of the right-wing mantras seems to be) if there aren't any available. So, I don't really have any economic "freedom", because the field is not level. Those who were born into wealth and influence, or got to the top by happenstance, have all the advantages -- they can decide who gets hired, who gets promotions and raises, etc. Also, larger businesses can put the squeeze on smaller ones and force them out of business (antitrust laws notwithstanding -- they always seem to find a way around those).

Now, I'm not in favor of pure socialism or communism either -- I believe some economic competition is good for making all products and services better, and providing incentive. But...pure capitalism limits freedom just about as much, for the reasons I outlined above.

[recovering_fan]

Well, whatever changes we make to our tax system and economic system (if any), one thing that would do the country a lot of good is if the arrogant rich just got over themselves and appreciated that a lot of what they have is due to happenstance and inheriteted position rather than to any contribution of extra effort or talent they've made to our society.

I don't want their money, so much as I want the respect that I am rightfully due from them. The arrogant, holier-than-thou, condescending attitude they have towards the poor (which you see at sites like able2know) is the chief source of the country's economic confusion and disorientation. When the country's elites, on both the Left and the Right, subscribe to the myth that their money and position somehow make them smarter than the rest of us, or "special" in some silly way, then they are not going to make informed decisions when they find themselves in power. Only people who are in touch with reality will lead well, and a rich person who believes his money and success make him special or different somehow from the rest of us is not in touch with reality.

I think, in general, women make better leaders than men, because they tend to be empathetic and tend to see the common humanity that make people similar to one another before they see the ranks and dinstinctions that make some people believe they are superior. Granted, Michele Bachmann is indeed a rightwing crazy, and Sarah Palin isn't even a serious candidate. I think I've found a way to further the cause of putting women in office that doesn't involve either of them. Elizabeth Warren has real potential as a force for the little guy in the Senate if she wins the election in Massachusetts next November. I'm crossing my fingers for her.