Physical & Life Sciences

Astronomy

Study of celestial objects — stars, galaxies, cosmology. Closely related to physics and increasingly computational.

Core courses

• Physics I-III
• Astrophysics
• Stellar Structure
• Galactic Astronomy
• Cosmology
• Observational Methods
• Computational Astronomy
• Senior Research

Career paths

• Research/Academia
• National Labs
• Data Science
• Aerospace
• Education/Outreach
• Industry (data-heavy roles)
• Graduate School (PhD)

What to expect

Direct industry jobs limited — most astronomy careers require PhD. Many astronomy majors pivot to data science or software engineering with programming skills.

How Fennie helps

Fennie covers astrophysics, classical mechanics, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics.

FAQ

Astronomy or physics?

Physics broader; astronomy narrower. Both lead to similar grad-school options.

Is there industry demand?

Direct astro: low. Astro skills (computation, data analysis) very transferable to tech industry.

PhD required?

For academic research yes. For industry — programming portfolio matters more than the PhD.

Get through your Astronomy coursework with Fennie

Daily Plans adapted to your specific courses — upload syllabi and Fennie does the rest.

Get started free

Other Physical & Life Sciences majors

Biology

The broadest life science major — covers everything from molecular biology to ecology. Common pre-med, pre-dental, and grad school pipeline.

Chemistry

Atomic and molecular science — gen chem, organic, physical, analytical, and inorganic. Foundation for med, pharma, and chemical industry.

Physics

Mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum, and thermodynamics. Math-heavy degree with strong analytical foundation.

Mathematics

Pure and applied math — calculus, linear algebra, analysis, algebra, and proofs. The foundation of quantitative disciplines.