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](/subject/astrophysics), [classical mechanics](/subject/classical-mechanics), [electromagnetism](/subject/electromagnetism), and [quantum mechanics](/subject/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.