Well, what was I thinking, leaving astronomy to write full time? I could have been making a lot more money sticking with astronomy. The link goes to an article which says that on a list of top-paying professions, astronomy is #24 with an average salary of about $96k/year. I must say, that statistic leaves me very baffled. I wonder who they included to get those numbers! I'm guessing no grad students were in there (I made $9k/year back then), and no post-docs ($40k nowadays? I'm not sure). I know a full time tenured professor can make $90k, once they've been in the biz for a while. I also know some astronomers make a fortune giving invited talks. I might too someday, but I don't give as many as I'd like to (if you are a wealthy benefactor, CEO of a company, museum exec, or have money to burn in some other manner, contact me). But still, $96k a year? The original source of the article says they got their numbers from the Department of Labor. I may have to look into this. I'm getting gypped. ... but this does explain that picture of Edwin Hubble I always see.
Tip o' the gold-plated dew shield to BABloggee Bill Rehm.
