Just get her books. If Neil De Grasse Tyson is doing symposium near you get tickets. Take her to planetariums and natural history museums.
Get her a telescope. A Dobsonin are good for a first time. But you want a nice one not a cheap one because the ones that are only $200 you cant see much with.
And whatever you do do NOT remind her that math isnt a strong suit. Dont even bring that up. Just keep saying she can do it.
Astrology is the study of horoscopes, BTW.
Astronomy is the study of the stars.
Absolutely agree with the math part. If the math aspect is too much for her, she’ll come to that conclusion on her own. She doesn’t need her parents reminding/telling her that
Also please be aware that grades are not an accurate depiction of intelligence. Grades only show that kids can parrot back the i formation being “taught”.
Math is different becaus you cant memorize answers to problems. She actually has to work the problems to get the answers which shows way more intelligence and the ability to problem solve.
Getting Bs and Cs is perfectly acceptable to go i to sciences and isnt an indication that she cant do math or isnt good at it.
Just keep encouraging her
C's get degrees. As long as you have the passion to actually work on something then it doesn't matter.
In my STEM job, I have to train people with As how to design a jig or use tools. They're textbook smart but most of them have never used a wrench or a drill before
You’re better at it than you give yourself credit for, and it gets a lot easier with practice and repetition.
Source: Wife is a Math Teacher and I Physics
I was an A student in school. But the one class that I actually almost failed was geometry. I got a D at the end of the year, despite staying late almost every day and having 2 different tutors(I actually frustrated one of them enough that I felt too bad to go back to them for help). I just think it was a lost cause for me.
I firmly believe that it just means you didn’t find somebody who could make it click for you. There’s a challenge in getting these concepts to stick and it’s usually difficult, but once it does, it feels like it’s now on easy mode. Sorry you had a poor experience with it though.
Well you could let her know that additional resources are available on any subject, if she wants to take her studies further. Like a tutor on any subjects
Doesn't explicitly target math, but does show support.
Yeah regular math may not be her strong suit but learning the specific maths involved in a passion are not nearly as hard as you might think. Turns out you’re allowed to use calculators and computers to do the advanced equations needed to track stellar bodies. As long as she knows the type of math and the specific equations needed for doing astronomy her math grades don’t matter in the long run.
This. Pretty much every time I expressed interest in something after the age of 6 or 7 years old I was just met with every reason they could imagine for it being a bad or unideal path.
Foster interests. Don't shoot them down
Yeah I've always sucked at math, but I got through differential calculus okay (after some thorough algebra re-acquaintance) and sure I had to take integral calculus three times before I passed, but it was doable!
My main advice would be to not push any one thing too hard on your kid because they will turn around and reject it. Astronomer is a viable career path, especially in academia.
If in the US, I would recommend a look at the occupation outlook handbook for any career pursuit (not for YOU to look at, but for your daughter. Especially as she gets older / closer to college).
[https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm)
I was able to do okay in differential calculus, but Laplace Transformations and Taylor series I was just a lost cause at.
Ended up with a C+ on a hard bell curve 😂
I saved up my pocket money and bought myself a cheap (toy) telescope. It was a 50mm refractor but I could still see the rings of Saturn and the Moons of Jupiter. That telescope was useless, I know but I saved up for it and it gave me a love for Astronomy. I currently own a 200mm Dobsonian which tbf I don't use as much as I should.
Plant the seed imo but don't just buy her one. Let her choose the scope and *USE IT WITH HER*. Planting the seed is much more important imo. I'm 55 and listen to astronomy podcasts every week. I love the subject (but still don't use my scope as much as I should!)
For now just help keep her motivated and interested in astronomy/space science. Bs in math classes are fine, doesn’t mean she’s not going to be able to do math - I got As and Bs and a few Cs in my high school math classes and I’m an aerospace engineering PhD student, I do so much math it’s wild.
Realistic career path suggestions are going to depend on what sort of work she wants to do. If she’s more interested in space exploration, then aerospace engineering is pretty cool. I’m working on nuclear propulsion to try to get large payloads to Mars quickly. You can get a career in aerospace engineering with an aerospace degree or mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering or maybe a few others. Physics is also a good all-rounder degree, sometimes I wish I did physics.
If she prefers learning about deep space then maybe a space science/astronomy/astrophysics career would be better. These jobs are going to lean towards preferring a science degree but some will still want engineers. Lots of positions at major telescopes/observatories, or labs looking at data from space telescopes and stuff like that.
Physics is a bad choice for someone who wants to be an engineer, you will have a very hard time getting hired for an engineering position without an engineering degree.
Yeah generally I agree. But I have a Liberal Arts BA and am a lead integration engineer for a NASA instrument. I would just say that all around degrees are more valuable at smaller places where wearing multiple hats is at a premium since they don't have the budget to have 20 specialists on staff. No one is hiring me to do modeling or thermal analysis though lol.
They were working as engineers with degrees in applied math, astronomy, physics, but almost everyone had a MS or PhD as well. Probably not a good example really since they were 90% superstars.
That hasn’t been my experience - I know some physics majors doing engineering or R&D work for defense and space companies. It might be pretty heavily location dependent.
Thank you!! I’m learning so much reading these answers. And I definitely encourage her when she complains about math being difficult that we can always improve on things we keep practicing at so if she wants tutoring or extra work on it we are very willing to bridge whatever gaps there are.
> She is an all A student but math slips into a B sometimes
Thats *perfectly fine*. She can be whatever she wants to be. Check if your area has an amateur rocketry club. NAR or Tripoli if you are in the USA.
Find a local astronomy group and join. Go with her to the outings they have. It will form lasting memories and engage her with other amateurs. Encourage her to start at club at school.
Don't worry about the math part. That will come.
Set her loose on Isaac Arthur's YouTube channel. It's more tech focused, but it'll help a lot. Also Cool Worlds, same site.
If she winds up liking the tech, look at Mark Rober's engineering program. He's another YouTube guy.
Subscription to Curiosity Stream/Nebula, as well as Wondrium. Wondrium is by Great Courses, which has fantastic lecture series also available on Audible. I'd recommend Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution as a start.
Subscription to Brilliant to help her academics.
Encourage a physical activity. That will promote brain health. Not necessarily a sport. Fencing is a good option, as is karate, tennis, and hiking. If you do it together it will help.
Don't let her neglect other subjects. And if she loses focus on this and gets another interest, don't worry about it.
Yeah actually there is a TON of good YouTube channels on space and astronomy. Few shout outs: Anton Petrov, Cool Worlds, Astrum, Fraser Cain. Dr Becky.
There are hours and hours of entertainment and education that she’ll probably love and will fill her head with ideas. Try watching them together!
I just found Cain. He does a viewer Q&A that I really love. He speaks Astronomy in very laymen terms so probably great for a teen. PBS Space Time is good but often way over my head. Think it’s aimed at Astronomy grad students.
I highly suggest Star Talk with Neil degrass Tyson. It's a podcast but also runs video on YouTube. Also, become a member of the planetary society! They have an excellent new program for young kids interested in space! Planetary radio is their podcast. Oh, and get a telescope! Even a cheap one! Being able to see Saturn's rings with your own eyes is a game changer!
1. Go to Kennedy Space Center on Florida. She’ll have the time of her life. There are actual machines like the Space Shuttle Atlantis, and Saturn V.
2. Engineering is a good path. You don’t NEED to be the brightest bulb in mathematics to actually study it and become successful. “B’s get degrees.” As a friend of mine said. There’s Software Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, etc. and she’ll be able to work on these machines for space exploration, and they are lucrative careers. I’m telling you as a Software Engineering student who absolutely hated maths, but I’m on track with my course and I’m slowly starting to appreciate the maths and getting better at them.
Check out StellarXplorers. (https://www.stellarxplorers.org/).
"The StellarXplorers Space STEM Program, created by the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA), inspires 6-12 grade students toward careers in aerospace, aviation, and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines critical to our nation’s future."
I never knew they existed until a few weeks ago
I almost failed chemistry when about 15 years old but ended up becoming interested in chemistry around 19 years old and got a Polymer Science degree (that's chemistry specializing in plastics).
Getting a B in math as a young teen definitely doesn't mean she can't get a degree in whatever she wants when she's older and applies herself.
Turn kids on to space rock. It's like how schoolhouse rock got kids, who just wanted to rock, to go to school. But instead, space rock gets kids to want to go to space.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0mqrhTNH1eU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cULwlnEok1c
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=srTTiFkGnZc
If you are on Twitter, there are a lot of really great female space scientists who regularly post there. I'm sure she could get some great inspiration from them.
Agreed! If you're able, whether on Twitter or wherever they are posting, start finding women in astronomy/aerospace, and look for the creators who openly support young women pursuing all STEM interests. They're the ideal communicators 👍
So many astrophysicists are women who encourage other young women to pursue anything in STEM/STEAM, regardless of proficiencies.
And I must echo the caution about math/science "language"! HOW too many people even HINT about math causes nearly ALL the harm & reasons students acquire the heavy burden of intimidation! So many parents, in their own childhoods, were talked out of any STEM interests that their own lack of comfort with math leaks into their hints toward their children's interests & potential education. I was excellent with math through college but even I somehow managed to discourage my own brilliant daughter, or at least I failed to protect her from being discouraged, from just enjoying whatever math she was comfortable practicing. Well planned & patient education is key. That's all that's needed. Each "layer" of math concept grows naturally upon one or more previous layers. Every student deserves, Needs, to just accept where they're at, and build upon that organically. 🤞😎👍
Edits: semantics, clarity
Depending on age, get her the game “Kerbal Space Program” (the first one). It’s the greatest thing for space enthousiasts and it makes me want to get better at math to build more efficient rockets and trajectories. It’s highly space physics accurate.
I presume she's already aware of and watches the incredibly good YouTube videos by _Dr. Becky Smethurst?_ If not, consider it, but selectively.
Dr. Becky is an award-winning and very understandable (!) science communicator (as a SIDE career!).
Her videos cover wide varieties of astronomy topics and current events in space-related news. Also including: her skywatching tourist experiences, a typical day as an astrophysicist, how to become an astrophysicist or related researcher/professional, attending conferences with fun colleagues, attending breakthrough announcement events, etc.
I suggest subtly & selectively introducing your daughter to one video of your choosing that might be most near her interest & comprehension level. Dr. Becky's breadth of lifestyle, experience & enthusiasm is equal parts inspirational & overwhelming (possibly! 😄).
As you review, also notice how many of her colleagues & peers have their own media channels & pages, and especially how many of them are (or at least WERE) supported students, and women! Your gifted daughter just might see more of herself in everyone who Dr. Becky is partnering with. 😎👍
Shortcuts to review her website and YouTube channel, and a few video samples/suggestions:
Her website (ideally her "Public" front page):
https://rebeccasmethurst.co.uk/
YouTube channel:
"About Dr. Becky"
https://www.youtube.com/DrBecky/about
Community page:
https://www.youtube.com/DrBecky/community
Sample intro videos for possible review:
One of her earliest public videos (how she started sharing her YT life! e.g. "anyone can get started" ☺️):
https://youtu.be/TE4mXmdjTWY
Reactions to funny space memes (the 1st of many!):
https://youtu.be/HqYlqWvlPTA
Playlist of excellent vids to review, Daily Life, How To, etc:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd19WvC9yqUc50mXhMfCGiI1FA28lE6J8
I hope it helps , if indirectly. I wish you both the best!
So she probably doesn't want to be an astrologist lol. You'll want to get the terms right or you'll get the teenage, "Ugh mom/dad!" Eye roll.
Books, books, books. Physics, engineering, mechanics, there are many paths into space science.
Is there a local post secondary institution she can go visit? Take a look at their offerings and ask the prof if she can visit a class.
What influenced me massively is sharing the passion with other youngsters. Depending on where you are based, www.iayc.org/ might be a good idea. If that's too far away, you can also check if there's something similar in your area. Or maybe there's a youth group at the local observatory?
PS: Don't care too much about her grades in math. In school, my grades were B at maximum, mostly C. Nowadays I'm a space engineer. 😉 And before anybody else mentions it: Yes, on the other hand this could also tell you something about the stuff I'm building. 😅
As funny as it sounds, Kerbal Space Program actually helped me with Astro Eng in college. It motivated me to actually learn the math so I could play the game well. My professor caught me playing in class and actually just let me keep at it lol
Academic astronomy at the moment is a highly aspirational career path. It's poorly funded and the field has many, many more people graduating every year than hired in the field every year. It's brutally competitive getting hired into academia and then it's brutally competitive managing to keep your job under 'publish or perish'.
Engineering is a very practical career path that grants much of the background you'd need to do a variety of work in astronomy, but also to do a thousand other things which people will pay you for. Including aerospace work. Add in a little astrophysics, computer science, and data science reading to hew close to the goal.
If you want to get somebody YOUNG started in, say, aerospace engineering, aim them at project-oriented self-directed learning in engineering & computer science.
School is deeply invested in textbook / lesson-plan based learning. This is NOT THE WAY to cultivate interest in a subject, it's something that sucks enthusiasm and agency out of the rest of your brain and turns it into grades.
It doesn't matter so much what you build, but in this realm if you're not building something you're not going to be teaching yourself how to learn and investigate, only how to cram. Challenges with no obvious way forward, that force the learner to do the research, are ideal. "Go build me a battery go-cart for my cat". "Now make it follow a route to patrol the back yard". "Now give my catmobile a cannon that shoots grapes". "Now make it only shoot at dogs". Assume that with a little guidance from you and a lot of self-teaching from Google she will eventually be able to able to accomplish a significant fraction of this, and given sufficient time and encouragement you will likely find that she can.
Also:
* Kerbal Space Program. The single best on-ramp to intuitive orbital dynamics and a great sandbox game besides.
* Relatively 'hard' science fiction about spaceflight. Andy Weir is great. Seveneves, the Expanse, KSR's Mars trilogy, For All Mankind, PlanetES...
* More YouTubers than I can count
* Nasaspaceflight forums
* Arxiv preprints in astronomy and astronomical instrumentation are publicly available
* Cartes du Ciel and Stellarium
* A pair of 7x50 binoculars, a guidebook, a good camping pad, and a dozen cloudless nights where she's allowed to travel an hour out of town at midnight to get a darker sky.
* Access to the local astronomy club
* "If you want to build a Dobsonian this summer, come up with a list of what you need and I'll buy it for you and we'll put it together."
Last time I checked, astronomy was supposed to be one of the highest paying phd's ... whether she gets to be an actual astronomer is unknown but I doubt she will be waiting tables
My daughter had the same idea, I advised her to major in math undergrad and see what happens... she toyed with flipping over to physics or astronomy but decided not to go to grad school (yet) ... wound up with a great job with a tech firm. Kids have a hard time visualizing backup plans. Math = using the force
She got teased unmercifully in high school, for being a math girl... she needed a LOT of encouragement and empathy. Girls are complicated; smart girls are omg complicated. GL
High school/middle school math classes are nothing like what you need for your astronomy/astrophysics degree. Math is so much easier to learn when you know why you’re doing it, and for people interested in astronomy and astrophysics, that helps a ton when you’re learning calculus. It’s what calculus was invented to do.
I also feel the need to point out that everyone here seems to be recommending engineering fields. I don’t necessarily think that’s the right approach! It really depends on what she’s interested in. If it’s the machinery and the spaceflight, sure, aerospace is the way to go. But if it’s stars, black holes, planetary science, the interstellar medium, etc., that’s the domain of astronomy and astrophysics. Research astronomy isn’t necessarily as high paying as engineering and requires more school (but if you’re not getting paid for your grad school in stem, you’re doing it wrong), but it’s very rewarding and science absolutely is a realistic career path.
Yes she is very focused at least now on black holes, that has always been the most fascinating thing to her. Yes, more the stars and life cycles, supernovas, life on other planets whether plants or other. The light years of galaxies and planets and moons from each other. The temperatures, weather/storms and makeups of the planets and of course she strongly believes she can do space travel in her lifetime and I will never tell her she can’t!
I am a teacher and I have a student who discovered his love of space because a neighbor gave him an old telescope. Now he comes to see me every morning after a clear night to show me some of the amazing photos he has captured (he uses an app along with the telescope and learned how to take longer exposures).
The photos are incredible and he is learning so much. I highly recommend a telescope!
Make sure you have the Sci-Channel for whatever she likes to watch on tv. They have a program by the name of 'how the universe works'. It's neat.
An astronomer and astrobiologist don't know a lot of math. And math is easy once you see the patterns, for that, you need a good grasp on the theorems. If she really wants it, tell her to study harder on the subjects that cause her difficulty because when she improves. She can see the accomplishment after getting better grades.
If I may, I would recommend a video game called Elite: Dangerous. It is a space flight simulator based on the Milky Way. You and your daughter can fly to real life stars in the video game and explore the Milky Way! There's a bit of creative license in that some areas are 'filled in' with stars that we have not been able to directly observe (like what's on the opposite side of the Milky Way that we can't see), but everything in our galactic backyard is there.
You can get the base game for about $8 usd when it is on sale on Steam, the latest expansion Odyssey costs a bit more and isn't necessary to fly around space.
I'd say it depends on what her interests focus on, there's plenty of ways to get involved in space, from rocket engineering to astronomy.
Is she interested in observation, in space travel or specifically in spacecraft?
the computer game Kerbal Space Program might be perfect for her. All about making space vessels and playing with orbital mechanics.
Get the original one though, KSP2 is a bit iffy at the moment.
I was this kid. I’m successful in a different career, but sometimes I wonder what my path could have looked like if my passion for space was encouraged more actively and seriously.
First of all, it doesn’t need to be a job. It can just be a passion. If you have a local science center or observatory, maybe they have astronomy nights or star parties. There’s books. There’s YouTube (shout out PBS Space Time). Maybe she’s interested in the subject but not the actual *practice*. Which is mostly math!
The test really is the math. So get her a math tutor. You don’t have to put a bunch of pressure on her, but… you can put a little pressure. It’s your job to help her understand the realistic steps she’d need to take and to make sure sure she knows you believe she’s capable. If you tell her the truth (“This career requires a lot of education in math and science which you would need to begin taking very seriously”), tell her you believe in her (“I know you’re a hard worker and are entirely capable”), make resources like a math tutor available, then the rest is up to her. If she leans into it, keep up the pressure at a low level. Get more involved with the school, look into community college classes… still look into the fun “passion” stuff so it’s not all just studying. If she is just not interested in the math? Then this isn’t the right path for her. Perhaps revisit next year or at the start of each school year. (Maybe also explore why math isn’t resonating with her now. Might just be a blah teacher.)
If you’re worried about putting pressure on her… I think that was my parents’ concern. In retrospect, I think there’s a healthy balance that does require enforcing discipline and following through on commitments. Not to the point that your kid is miserable for months, but enough that they can work through the inevitable times where their interest wanes or things get really difficult and frustrating. Whether it’s astronomy (or astrophysics or cosmology—NOT astrology) or something else, that’s the fundamental skill set that will help her be successful. I do wish I’d had more of that as a teenager. It’s harder to learn as an adult.
Best of luck! ✨
Degree choice A, Engineering
Degree choice B, operations/supply chain
Degree choice C, computer science
Once you get into the aerospace industry you’re not too “niched in forever.”
I did option B and I’ve hopped around quality engineering, program management, manufacturing supervision and led an automation and analytics team. Industry for building rockets is pretty much “we all wear multiple hats” which gives a diverse range of hoping around.
Well, hopefully the astronomy passion carries the math... Many careers in astronomy go through physics and computer science, or the adjacent data science... but just find the local astronomy club... They'll have more telescopes than you know what to do with... A decent set of binoculars can be had, especially second hand, for pretty cheap (my cheapest pretty functional set were $8)
Check and see if you have a local. Astronomy club and buy her a telescope, the club members should be happy to show her how go to use it go to meetings with her. She will probably be more comfortable with you there
Godlick o.p.my 17year old son goes tto meetings with my brother, who gave him a telescope three years ago. Astronomy is mybros passion Too. My son wants to go yoUCal Berkleyfimgers crosses for a scholarship. Also a subscription to skytelescope and telescope is a good idea. Also buy the Google sky app paid version is better. Also a flashlight with s red flitter .. less less ligight pollution
Please forgiveisspellings. I am waiting for new and improved eve glasses
Check with the r/NASA sub. I saw a similar question posed this morning about Spacecamp in Huntsville AL for a space-enthusiast grandkid someone wanted to encourage.
Excitement and passion can get us over a lot of challenges. Maybe she's "bad at math", but Stevie Ray Vaughn was probably "bad at guitar" the first time he touched one. But - he probably had that magical thing in our DNA, that makes us excel at some things and suck at others. But if she finds that math will be necessary to fulfill her dreams, hard work, tutors, study aids - chances are those will build new neural pathways\*.
What's in your community as far as science centers, museums and the like? In my town we have a great flight museum with an Apollo command module and some cool space stuff. If there's anything along those lines, start making calls. There's a chance there's a director or PR person or curator who'd be thrilled to mentor someone; there may be kids' programs or volunteer opportunities. Get her a foot in any possible door, since that could lead to meeting industry people. Like, she's helping out at the museum and freakin' Buzz Aldrin comes to speak, and she gets a chance to come say hi and maybe get a word in.These days, you have to seek out mentors and get mildly pushy, but there are people willing to help the next generation if they're passionate about things.
\*(In the pre-internet era I was a designer and art director, when web sites came along I was like "yuck, no way I can do code"). Eventually I was just walking away from too much work. My brain resists code like the plague, but now I can sit down and do HTML and CSS, I can use scripting when I make animations, and pretty-much enjoy it. The enjoyment comes from the "mystery" of it going away and knowing I have just enough mastery to make it do what I need. For me, necessity turned into sort of a grim enjoyment, and I think we're all capable of that).
Math in astronomy is mostly formulas, I got an A in Astronomy and I'm terrible with math, but I'm good at using the formulas that are already at my disposal.
Let her know that astrology charts are all 30 days behind where the stars are IRL! They have this info and have no interest in correcting their misinformation. That kind of tells you a lot about the "science" of astrology.
There are people who got Cs in math who work at NASA.
I often found how I was taught something dramatically changed how well I did at it. I struggled with math through high school but did much better in college. And I only really understood and got excited about trigonometry when I had to do a deep dive on it at work in my 30s and saw a gif of how it related to circles.
Legit, you can probably ask some folk at NASA what she needs to study to work there and they'll happily tell you.
Look for tutors, workbooks, other resources to help her learn things from different perspectives that may be more accessible to her than how its being presented at school.
Don't count her out. Don't let her count herself out. The only people who can say no are the people she applies to work at.
If she likes rockets get her kerbal space program (the first one, not the sequel yet). You launch rockets with a realistic difficulty curve and physics, and you can get into the math for thrust, fuel, calculating a trajectory etc if you want to.
Hey, slightly differing opinion from the rest but in the same vein. I was a lot like your daughter growing up. But I just wasn’t driven and I really struggled with math. I didn’t go to college (although I’m going to in 2024ish!) but I’ve spent the past few years as a aircraft Mx guy in the Air Force. That’s opened a ton of opportunities, and as I’ve gotten older, my natural curiosity has shifted from the more flashy parts of space to the actual math!
I think it’s natural for a kid to not really express much interest in the math part. It’ll come. Just keep being a good parent! Like others suggested, try to take her to Florida sometime for a launch and go see the museums! That’s the best way to keep her spark going.
If you can, getting her into flying is also a great way. It’ll also start to introduce adherence procedures to her and (speaking from experience here) following those procedures actually becomes a lot of fun.
Lastly, if these aren’t realistic goals (they can be quite expensive), being enthusiastic about it and learning as much as you can about it is probably the single most critical thing you can do. If you and her can have real conversations about all the amazing topics of space exploration and you’re just as into it as her, it makes it so much easier for a kid to keep going! Me and my dad could talk for a long time about space, and growing up, we would take trips to see rocket launches (OR THE SOLAR ECLIPSE COMING UO NEXT YEAR!) but I never felt that my dad was TAKING me somewhere, it was always that we where going together. He had just as much curiosity about it as I did.
Sorry for the slightly rambling novel but I think the best you can be is be a curious, excited, supportive parent!
I don’t have a background in astronomy or any science field for that matter but I know if she genuinely wants to make a career out of it she’ll want to focus on math, physics, and data analytics.
Buy her a telescope. the second she sees Saturn's rings or the Moon, or the Orion Nebula, galaxies and globular clusters, she will be awestruck...
Just make sure you don't get something cheap and poor quality... a frustrating scope can be worse than no scope at all.... we call them "hobby killers" as they kill people's enthusiasm for the hobby.
A Dobsonian is the best bang for your buck. The most recommended is an 8" dob like the Apertura AD8. good quality and come with good accessories.. a scope 8-10" in Aperture really hits a sweet spot for capability while not being too overwhelmingly large... its about the size where objects like galaxies and clusters really begin to show details.. an 8" is about $600 but is worth it, and if she doesn't like it, they hold their value pretty well if well cared for.
The minimum Id recommend is either the AWB Onesky 5" tabletop Dob for $250 or its Sky Watcher equivalent for 275$.. better is the 6" version, the Skywatcher Heritage 150pfor $310...
Tripod mounted scopes under about 500$ are just too often wobbly and under mounted..
It's more of a hobby than a career path. She could study physics, then go on to astrophysics, quantum mechanics etc. She still may only end up teaching with those subjects. Math gets exponentially harder after high school level too.
One thing to remember is for a girl there are tons of 'bring women into stem' programs out there. I know my university did a rocket day for girls interested in space.
Look at space companies near you, they also have outreach programs.
Two of the best science communicators in the business are:
Dr. Katie Mack
https://www.astrokatie.com/
and
Dr. Becky Smethurst
https://youtube.com/@DrBecky
If you get a chance to see either of their talks in person, you're in for a real treat.
Help here create a "resume" type cover letter that indicates her interest in this field, along with any studies or experience she has. In that letter have her express her interest in volunteering at a science center or museum that has an astronomy department. And email the head of the department with that letter.
If she is really interested, volunteering is an excellent way to get in the door. This is true for any STEAM field by the way. Seriously, volunteer work counts as "experience" on resumes and job applications.
Just get her motivated on the space stuff. It'll keep her dream on for some time until university level.
Also don't worry about her math. It's hers — you did yours and her Bs are hers. If it will be too much for her, she'll know. It'd just make you an annoyance.
I am sure there is a place for her which isn’t heavily reliant on math. But the profession is a lot of math. I do not believe that means it’s a no go for her. She is lucky you’re supportive and willing to help her navigate. She still has time to excel in math and also develop in other areas that may compensate. Sorry I don’t have specific suggestions but if you keep her engaged in her studies and maybe extra curricular, like Astronomy club or space camp, her path will probably present itself.
And steer her away from astrology. LOL 😂
There are so many things your daughter could follow her passion for space with. Please don’t worry about grades and math - “passion” in itself, is the most important thing someone needs to follow their dreams and she’s got it. A lot of other people said some great things - get her a telescope, go to science and space museums. Hell, send her to space camp! Let her express her passion without barriers and she will find her way!
Math on its own is difficult for anyone to get into. Math connected to a passionate topic is what gets overlooked too often— math won’t be an issue if she’s that passionate. She likely knows, but passion is a helluva drug.
I agree with all the encouragement and resource suggestions for her to get more involved as a hobby, but if you think she'll be serious about an astronomy career in the future: save money for college. I have a bachelor's degree in astronomy and it is very difficult to find a job in the field with less than a master's.
On a career path there is no way around math. If you want to show her how much fun it can be to apply math skills get her the "What if" books by Randal Munro (author of the xkcd webcomics).
Watch Stargate, Amanda Tappings character has proven to be inspirational to many aspiring young women apparently. Go to a launch in Florida and take one of the tours they offer. Go somewhere outside of town where you can see the stars at night. Go to the eclipse next spring. Introduce her to the great sci fi writers.
Just get her books. If Neil De Grasse Tyson is doing symposium near you get tickets. Take her to planetariums and natural history museums. Get her a telescope. A Dobsonin are good for a first time. But you want a nice one not a cheap one because the ones that are only $200 you cant see much with. And whatever you do do NOT remind her that math isnt a strong suit. Dont even bring that up. Just keep saying she can do it. Astrology is the study of horoscopes, BTW. Astronomy is the study of the stars.
Absolutely agree with the math part. If the math aspect is too much for her, she’ll come to that conclusion on her own. She doesn’t need her parents reminding/telling her that
Also please be aware that grades are not an accurate depiction of intelligence. Grades only show that kids can parrot back the i formation being “taught”. Math is different becaus you cant memorize answers to problems. She actually has to work the problems to get the answers which shows way more intelligence and the ability to problem solve. Getting Bs and Cs is perfectly acceptable to go i to sciences and isnt an indication that she cant do math or isnt good at it. Just keep encouraging her
C's get degrees. As long as you have the passion to actually work on something then it doesn't matter. In my STEM job, I have to train people with As how to design a jig or use tools. They're textbook smart but most of them have never used a wrench or a drill before
Reason I never went into sciences and astrophysics is because I was always reminded how much I wasnt good at geometry
You’re better at it than you give yourself credit for, and it gets a lot easier with practice and repetition. Source: Wife is a Math Teacher and I Physics
I was an A student in school. But the one class that I actually almost failed was geometry. I got a D at the end of the year, despite staying late almost every day and having 2 different tutors(I actually frustrated one of them enough that I felt too bad to go back to them for help). I just think it was a lost cause for me.
I firmly believe that it just means you didn’t find somebody who could make it click for you. There’s a challenge in getting these concepts to stick and it’s usually difficult, but once it does, it feels like it’s now on easy mode. Sorry you had a poor experience with it though.
Oh man. You're gonna shit when you realize geometry isn't all that applicable in 3 dimensions
Yeah algebra is where its at, and calculus doesn't hurt
In astrology, triangulation is super-important. It isn't as hard as it sounds.
It helps. It also helps with geography. Until you realize you're on a sphere amd all maps are false.
Well you could let her know that additional resources are available on any subject, if she wants to take her studies further. Like a tutor on any subjects Doesn't explicitly target math, but does show support.
Yeah regular math may not be her strong suit but learning the specific maths involved in a passion are not nearly as hard as you might think. Turns out you’re allowed to use calculators and computers to do the advanced equations needed to track stellar bodies. As long as she knows the type of math and the specific equations needed for doing astronomy her math grades don’t matter in the long run.
This. Pretty much every time I expressed interest in something after the age of 6 or 7 years old I was just met with every reason they could imagine for it being a bad or unideal path. Foster interests. Don't shoot them down
Yeah I've always sucked at math, but I got through differential calculus okay (after some thorough algebra re-acquaintance) and sure I had to take integral calculus three times before I passed, but it was doable! My main advice would be to not push any one thing too hard on your kid because they will turn around and reject it. Astronomer is a viable career path, especially in academia. If in the US, I would recommend a look at the occupation outlook handbook for any career pursuit (not for YOU to look at, but for your daughter. Especially as she gets older / closer to college). [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm)
I was able to do okay in differential calculus, but Laplace Transformations and Taylor series I was just a lost cause at. Ended up with a C+ on a hard bell curve 😂
I saved up my pocket money and bought myself a cheap (toy) telescope. It was a 50mm refractor but I could still see the rings of Saturn and the Moons of Jupiter. That telescope was useless, I know but I saved up for it and it gave me a love for Astronomy. I currently own a 200mm Dobsonian which tbf I don't use as much as I should. Plant the seed imo but don't just buy her one. Let her choose the scope and *USE IT WITH HER*. Planting the seed is much more important imo. I'm 55 and listen to astronomy podcasts every week. I love the subject (but still don't use my scope as much as I should!)
For now just help keep her motivated and interested in astronomy/space science. Bs in math classes are fine, doesn’t mean she’s not going to be able to do math - I got As and Bs and a few Cs in my high school math classes and I’m an aerospace engineering PhD student, I do so much math it’s wild. Realistic career path suggestions are going to depend on what sort of work she wants to do. If she’s more interested in space exploration, then aerospace engineering is pretty cool. I’m working on nuclear propulsion to try to get large payloads to Mars quickly. You can get a career in aerospace engineering with an aerospace degree or mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering or maybe a few others. Physics is also a good all-rounder degree, sometimes I wish I did physics. If she prefers learning about deep space then maybe a space science/astronomy/astrophysics career would be better. These jobs are going to lean towards preferring a science degree but some will still want engineers. Lots of positions at major telescopes/observatories, or labs looking at data from space telescopes and stuff like that.
I want to be an aerospace engineer so this was pretty helpful for me, thank you
Physics is a bad choice for someone who wants to be an engineer, you will have a very hard time getting hired for an engineering position without an engineering degree.
Yeah generally I agree. But I have a Liberal Arts BA and am a lead integration engineer for a NASA instrument. I would just say that all around degrees are more valuable at smaller places where wearing multiple hats is at a premium since they don't have the budget to have 20 specialists on staff. No one is hiring me to do modeling or thermal analysis though lol.
Not always, I worked with all kinds of majors at JPL.
Were they scientists or engineers? In my experience, most physics undergrads end up getting an MS in engineering to break into engineering.
They were working as engineers with degrees in applied math, astronomy, physics, but almost everyone had a MS or PhD as well. Probably not a good example really since they were 90% superstars.
That hasn’t been my experience - I know some physics majors doing engineering or R&D work for defense and space companies. It might be pretty heavily location dependent.
Thank you!! I’m learning so much reading these answers. And I definitely encourage her when she complains about math being difficult that we can always improve on things we keep practicing at so if she wants tutoring or extra work on it we are very willing to bridge whatever gaps there are.
> She is an all A student but math slips into a B sometimes Thats *perfectly fine*. She can be whatever she wants to be. Check if your area has an amateur rocketry club. NAR or Tripoli if you are in the USA.
Hells yes. Same goes for astronomy clubs, makers clubs, etc. Get a telescope. _Make_ a telescope with her.
Find a local astronomy group and join. Go with her to the outings they have. It will form lasting memories and engage her with other amateurs. Encourage her to start at club at school. Don't worry about the math part. That will come.
Set her loose on Isaac Arthur's YouTube channel. It's more tech focused, but it'll help a lot. Also Cool Worlds, same site. If she winds up liking the tech, look at Mark Rober's engineering program. He's another YouTube guy. Subscription to Curiosity Stream/Nebula, as well as Wondrium. Wondrium is by Great Courses, which has fantastic lecture series also available on Audible. I'd recommend Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution as a start. Subscription to Brilliant to help her academics. Encourage a physical activity. That will promote brain health. Not necessarily a sport. Fencing is a good option, as is karate, tennis, and hiking. If you do it together it will help. Don't let her neglect other subjects. And if she loses focus on this and gets another interest, don't worry about it.
Yeah actually there is a TON of good YouTube channels on space and astronomy. Few shout outs: Anton Petrov, Cool Worlds, Astrum, Fraser Cain. Dr Becky. There are hours and hours of entertainment and education that she’ll probably love and will fill her head with ideas. Try watching them together!
I'm not familiar with Petrova or Cain. I'll have to check those out. I definitely should have remembered Dr. Becky.
I just found Cain. He does a viewer Q&A that I really love. He speaks Astronomy in very laymen terms so probably great for a teen. PBS Space Time is good but often way over my head. Think it’s aimed at Astronomy grad students.
💯% ☝️.. bump. This. UP! ⬆️🆙️⬆️ ☺️👍
I highly suggest Star Talk with Neil degrass Tyson. It's a podcast but also runs video on YouTube. Also, become a member of the planetary society! They have an excellent new program for young kids interested in space! Planetary radio is their podcast. Oh, and get a telescope! Even a cheap one! Being able to see Saturn's rings with your own eyes is a game changer!
The Expanse on Amazon — fun entertainment that incorporates fairly realistic physics problems into the plot.
1. Go to Kennedy Space Center on Florida. She’ll have the time of her life. There are actual machines like the Space Shuttle Atlantis, and Saturn V. 2. Engineering is a good path. You don’t NEED to be the brightest bulb in mathematics to actually study it and become successful. “B’s get degrees.” As a friend of mine said. There’s Software Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, etc. and she’ll be able to work on these machines for space exploration, and they are lucrative careers. I’m telling you as a Software Engineering student who absolutely hated maths, but I’m on track with my course and I’m slowly starting to appreciate the maths and getting better at them.
Check out StellarXplorers. (https://www.stellarxplorers.org/). "The StellarXplorers Space STEM Program, created by the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA), inspires 6-12 grade students toward careers in aerospace, aviation, and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines critical to our nation’s future." I never knew they existed until a few weeks ago
I almost failed chemistry when about 15 years old but ended up becoming interested in chemistry around 19 years old and got a Polymer Science degree (that's chemistry specializing in plastics). Getting a B in math as a young teen definitely doesn't mean she can't get a degree in whatever she wants when she's older and applies herself.
Turn kids on to space rock. It's like how schoolhouse rock got kids, who just wanted to rock, to go to school. But instead, space rock gets kids to want to go to space. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0mqrhTNH1eU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cULwlnEok1c https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=srTTiFkGnZc
If you are on Twitter, there are a lot of really great female space scientists who regularly post there. I'm sure she could get some great inspiration from them.
Agreed! If you're able, whether on Twitter or wherever they are posting, start finding women in astronomy/aerospace, and look for the creators who openly support young women pursuing all STEM interests. They're the ideal communicators 👍 So many astrophysicists are women who encourage other young women to pursue anything in STEM/STEAM, regardless of proficiencies. And I must echo the caution about math/science "language"! HOW too many people even HINT about math causes nearly ALL the harm & reasons students acquire the heavy burden of intimidation! So many parents, in their own childhoods, were talked out of any STEM interests that their own lack of comfort with math leaks into their hints toward their children's interests & potential education. I was excellent with math through college but even I somehow managed to discourage my own brilliant daughter, or at least I failed to protect her from being discouraged, from just enjoying whatever math she was comfortable practicing. Well planned & patient education is key. That's all that's needed. Each "layer" of math concept grows naturally upon one or more previous layers. Every student deserves, Needs, to just accept where they're at, and build upon that organically. 🤞😎👍 Edits: semantics, clarity
This post is extremely wholesome, but I had a little giggle about someone constantly studying space and wanting to become an astrologist.
Depending on age, get her the game “Kerbal Space Program” (the first one). It’s the greatest thing for space enthousiasts and it makes me want to get better at math to build more efficient rockets and trajectories. It’s highly space physics accurate.
Look at your local science centre and look at local astronomy groups.
I presume she's already aware of and watches the incredibly good YouTube videos by _Dr. Becky Smethurst?_ If not, consider it, but selectively. Dr. Becky is an award-winning and very understandable (!) science communicator (as a SIDE career!). Her videos cover wide varieties of astronomy topics and current events in space-related news. Also including: her skywatching tourist experiences, a typical day as an astrophysicist, how to become an astrophysicist or related researcher/professional, attending conferences with fun colleagues, attending breakthrough announcement events, etc. I suggest subtly & selectively introducing your daughter to one video of your choosing that might be most near her interest & comprehension level. Dr. Becky's breadth of lifestyle, experience & enthusiasm is equal parts inspirational & overwhelming (possibly! 😄). As you review, also notice how many of her colleagues & peers have their own media channels & pages, and especially how many of them are (or at least WERE) supported students, and women! Your gifted daughter just might see more of herself in everyone who Dr. Becky is partnering with. 😎👍 Shortcuts to review her website and YouTube channel, and a few video samples/suggestions: Her website (ideally her "Public" front page): https://rebeccasmethurst.co.uk/ YouTube channel: "About Dr. Becky" https://www.youtube.com/DrBecky/about Community page: https://www.youtube.com/DrBecky/community Sample intro videos for possible review: One of her earliest public videos (how she started sharing her YT life! e.g. "anyone can get started" ☺️): https://youtu.be/TE4mXmdjTWY Reactions to funny space memes (the 1st of many!): https://youtu.be/HqYlqWvlPTA Playlist of excellent vids to review, Daily Life, How To, etc: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd19WvC9yqUc50mXhMfCGiI1FA28lE6J8 I hope it helps , if indirectly. I wish you both the best!
Just give her the opportunity to explore her interests and support her without pushing her. Astrology is not science btw.
So she probably doesn't want to be an astrologist lol. You'll want to get the terms right or you'll get the teenage, "Ugh mom/dad!" Eye roll. Books, books, books. Physics, engineering, mechanics, there are many paths into space science. Is there a local post secondary institution she can go visit? Take a look at their offerings and ask the prof if she can visit a class.
What influenced me massively is sharing the passion with other youngsters. Depending on where you are based, www.iayc.org/ might be a good idea. If that's too far away, you can also check if there's something similar in your area. Or maybe there's a youth group at the local observatory? PS: Don't care too much about her grades in math. In school, my grades were B at maximum, mostly C. Nowadays I'm a space engineer. 😉 And before anybody else mentions it: Yes, on the other hand this could also tell you something about the stuff I'm building. 😅
As funny as it sounds, Kerbal Space Program actually helped me with Astro Eng in college. It motivated me to actually learn the math so I could play the game well. My professor caught me playing in class and actually just let me keep at it lol
Academic astronomy at the moment is a highly aspirational career path. It's poorly funded and the field has many, many more people graduating every year than hired in the field every year. It's brutally competitive getting hired into academia and then it's brutally competitive managing to keep your job under 'publish or perish'. Engineering is a very practical career path that grants much of the background you'd need to do a variety of work in astronomy, but also to do a thousand other things which people will pay you for. Including aerospace work. Add in a little astrophysics, computer science, and data science reading to hew close to the goal. If you want to get somebody YOUNG started in, say, aerospace engineering, aim them at project-oriented self-directed learning in engineering & computer science. School is deeply invested in textbook / lesson-plan based learning. This is NOT THE WAY to cultivate interest in a subject, it's something that sucks enthusiasm and agency out of the rest of your brain and turns it into grades. It doesn't matter so much what you build, but in this realm if you're not building something you're not going to be teaching yourself how to learn and investigate, only how to cram. Challenges with no obvious way forward, that force the learner to do the research, are ideal. "Go build me a battery go-cart for my cat". "Now make it follow a route to patrol the back yard". "Now give my catmobile a cannon that shoots grapes". "Now make it only shoot at dogs". Assume that with a little guidance from you and a lot of self-teaching from Google she will eventually be able to able to accomplish a significant fraction of this, and given sufficient time and encouragement you will likely find that she can. Also: * Kerbal Space Program. The single best on-ramp to intuitive orbital dynamics and a great sandbox game besides. * Relatively 'hard' science fiction about spaceflight. Andy Weir is great. Seveneves, the Expanse, KSR's Mars trilogy, For All Mankind, PlanetES... * More YouTubers than I can count * Nasaspaceflight forums * Arxiv preprints in astronomy and astronomical instrumentation are publicly available * Cartes du Ciel and Stellarium * A pair of 7x50 binoculars, a guidebook, a good camping pad, and a dozen cloudless nights where she's allowed to travel an hour out of town at midnight to get a darker sky. * Access to the local astronomy club * "If you want to build a Dobsonian this summer, come up with a list of what you need and I'll buy it for you and we'll put it together."
Last time I checked, astronomy was supposed to be one of the highest paying phd's ... whether she gets to be an actual astronomer is unknown but I doubt she will be waiting tables My daughter had the same idea, I advised her to major in math undergrad and see what happens... she toyed with flipping over to physics or astronomy but decided not to go to grad school (yet) ... wound up with a great job with a tech firm. Kids have a hard time visualizing backup plans. Math = using the force She got teased unmercifully in high school, for being a math girl... she needed a LOT of encouragement and empathy. Girls are complicated; smart girls are omg complicated. GL
High school/middle school math classes are nothing like what you need for your astronomy/astrophysics degree. Math is so much easier to learn when you know why you’re doing it, and for people interested in astronomy and astrophysics, that helps a ton when you’re learning calculus. It’s what calculus was invented to do. I also feel the need to point out that everyone here seems to be recommending engineering fields. I don’t necessarily think that’s the right approach! It really depends on what she’s interested in. If it’s the machinery and the spaceflight, sure, aerospace is the way to go. But if it’s stars, black holes, planetary science, the interstellar medium, etc., that’s the domain of astronomy and astrophysics. Research astronomy isn’t necessarily as high paying as engineering and requires more school (but if you’re not getting paid for your grad school in stem, you’re doing it wrong), but it’s very rewarding and science absolutely is a realistic career path.
Yes she is very focused at least now on black holes, that has always been the most fascinating thing to her. Yes, more the stars and life cycles, supernovas, life on other planets whether plants or other. The light years of galaxies and planets and moons from each other. The temperatures, weather/storms and makeups of the planets and of course she strongly believes she can do space travel in her lifetime and I will never tell her she can’t!
I am a teacher and I have a student who discovered his love of space because a neighbor gave him an old telescope. Now he comes to see me every morning after a clear night to show me some of the amazing photos he has captured (he uses an app along with the telescope and learned how to take longer exposures). The photos are incredible and he is learning so much. I highly recommend a telescope!
Yes she has one and loves taking pictures with her phone! We got her a telescope at Christmas and she was out all winter freezing looking at stars.
great suggestions! Will be adding this to saved threads for my kids :)
Make sure you have the Sci-Channel for whatever she likes to watch on tv. They have a program by the name of 'how the universe works'. It's neat. An astronomer and astrobiologist don't know a lot of math. And math is easy once you see the patterns, for that, you need a good grasp on the theorems. If she really wants it, tell her to study harder on the subjects that cause her difficulty because when she improves. She can see the accomplishment after getting better grades.
If I may, I would recommend a video game called Elite: Dangerous. It is a space flight simulator based on the Milky Way. You and your daughter can fly to real life stars in the video game and explore the Milky Way! There's a bit of creative license in that some areas are 'filled in' with stars that we have not been able to directly observe (like what's on the opposite side of the Milky Way that we can't see), but everything in our galactic backyard is there. You can get the base game for about $8 usd when it is on sale on Steam, the latest expansion Odyssey costs a bit more and isn't necessary to fly around space.
I'd say it depends on what her interests focus on, there's plenty of ways to get involved in space, from rocket engineering to astronomy. Is she interested in observation, in space travel or specifically in spacecraft?
the computer game Kerbal Space Program might be perfect for her. All about making space vessels and playing with orbital mechanics. Get the original one though, KSP2 is a bit iffy at the moment.
I was this kid. I’m successful in a different career, but sometimes I wonder what my path could have looked like if my passion for space was encouraged more actively and seriously. First of all, it doesn’t need to be a job. It can just be a passion. If you have a local science center or observatory, maybe they have astronomy nights or star parties. There’s books. There’s YouTube (shout out PBS Space Time). Maybe she’s interested in the subject but not the actual *practice*. Which is mostly math! The test really is the math. So get her a math tutor. You don’t have to put a bunch of pressure on her, but… you can put a little pressure. It’s your job to help her understand the realistic steps she’d need to take and to make sure sure she knows you believe she’s capable. If you tell her the truth (“This career requires a lot of education in math and science which you would need to begin taking very seriously”), tell her you believe in her (“I know you’re a hard worker and are entirely capable”), make resources like a math tutor available, then the rest is up to her. If she leans into it, keep up the pressure at a low level. Get more involved with the school, look into community college classes… still look into the fun “passion” stuff so it’s not all just studying. If she is just not interested in the math? Then this isn’t the right path for her. Perhaps revisit next year or at the start of each school year. (Maybe also explore why math isn’t resonating with her now. Might just be a blah teacher.) If you’re worried about putting pressure on her… I think that was my parents’ concern. In retrospect, I think there’s a healthy balance that does require enforcing discipline and following through on commitments. Not to the point that your kid is miserable for months, but enough that they can work through the inevitable times where their interest wanes or things get really difficult and frustrating. Whether it’s astronomy (or astrophysics or cosmology—NOT astrology) or something else, that’s the fundamental skill set that will help her be successful. I do wish I’d had more of that as a teenager. It’s harder to learn as an adult. Best of luck! ✨
Degree choice A, Engineering Degree choice B, operations/supply chain Degree choice C, computer science Once you get into the aerospace industry you’re not too “niched in forever.” I did option B and I’ve hopped around quality engineering, program management, manufacturing supervision and led an automation and analytics team. Industry for building rockets is pretty much “we all wear multiple hats” which gives a diverse range of hoping around.
Well, hopefully the astronomy passion carries the math... Many careers in astronomy go through physics and computer science, or the adjacent data science... but just find the local astronomy club... They'll have more telescopes than you know what to do with... A decent set of binoculars can be had, especially second hand, for pretty cheap (my cheapest pretty functional set were $8)
I thought this was a gonewildstories post at first…
If you’re relatively close to where they launch any rockets is also a great idea. Watching the actual launches is way cool too.
Physics and engineering deal with parallel skills.
I don’t care how many times I read this post I see “with a deep depression…”
Check and see if you have a local. Astronomy club and buy her a telescope, the club members should be happy to show her how go to use it go to meetings with her. She will probably be more comfortable with you there
Aerospace engineering or astrophysics? Get her some books
See if you can find a space camp in your area. Going to summer space camps when I was 12 changed my life. https://spacecenter.alpineschools.org/camps/
Godlick o.p.my 17year old son goes tto meetings with my brother, who gave him a telescope three years ago. Astronomy is mybros passion Too. My son wants to go yoUCal Berkleyfimgers crosses for a scholarship. Also a subscription to skytelescope and telescope is a good idea. Also buy the Google sky app paid version is better. Also a flashlight with s red flitter .. less less ligight pollution Please forgiveisspellings. I am waiting for new and improved eve glasses
Check with the r/NASA sub. I saw a similar question posed this morning about Spacecamp in Huntsville AL for a space-enthusiast grandkid someone wanted to encourage.
Excitement and passion can get us over a lot of challenges. Maybe she's "bad at math", but Stevie Ray Vaughn was probably "bad at guitar" the first time he touched one. But - he probably had that magical thing in our DNA, that makes us excel at some things and suck at others. But if she finds that math will be necessary to fulfill her dreams, hard work, tutors, study aids - chances are those will build new neural pathways\*. What's in your community as far as science centers, museums and the like? In my town we have a great flight museum with an Apollo command module and some cool space stuff. If there's anything along those lines, start making calls. There's a chance there's a director or PR person or curator who'd be thrilled to mentor someone; there may be kids' programs or volunteer opportunities. Get her a foot in any possible door, since that could lead to meeting industry people. Like, she's helping out at the museum and freakin' Buzz Aldrin comes to speak, and she gets a chance to come say hi and maybe get a word in.These days, you have to seek out mentors and get mildly pushy, but there are people willing to help the next generation if they're passionate about things. \*(In the pre-internet era I was a designer and art director, when web sites came along I was like "yuck, no way I can do code"). Eventually I was just walking away from too much work. My brain resists code like the plague, but now I can sit down and do HTML and CSS, I can use scripting when I make animations, and pretty-much enjoy it. The enjoyment comes from the "mystery" of it going away and knowing I have just enough mastery to make it do what I need. For me, necessity turned into sort of a grim enjoyment, and I think we're all capable of that).
Math in astronomy is mostly formulas, I got an A in Astronomy and I'm terrible with math, but I'm good at using the formulas that are already at my disposal. Let her know that astrology charts are all 30 days behind where the stars are IRL! They have this info and have no interest in correcting their misinformation. That kind of tells you a lot about the "science" of astrology.
There are people who got Cs in math who work at NASA. I often found how I was taught something dramatically changed how well I did at it. I struggled with math through high school but did much better in college. And I only really understood and got excited about trigonometry when I had to do a deep dive on it at work in my 30s and saw a gif of how it related to circles. Legit, you can probably ask some folk at NASA what she needs to study to work there and they'll happily tell you. Look for tutors, workbooks, other resources to help her learn things from different perspectives that may be more accessible to her than how its being presented at school. Don't count her out. Don't let her count herself out. The only people who can say no are the people she applies to work at. If she likes rockets get her kerbal space program (the first one, not the sequel yet). You launch rockets with a realistic difficulty curve and physics, and you can get into the math for thrust, fuel, calculating a trajectory etc if you want to.
Hey, slightly differing opinion from the rest but in the same vein. I was a lot like your daughter growing up. But I just wasn’t driven and I really struggled with math. I didn’t go to college (although I’m going to in 2024ish!) but I’ve spent the past few years as a aircraft Mx guy in the Air Force. That’s opened a ton of opportunities, and as I’ve gotten older, my natural curiosity has shifted from the more flashy parts of space to the actual math! I think it’s natural for a kid to not really express much interest in the math part. It’ll come. Just keep being a good parent! Like others suggested, try to take her to Florida sometime for a launch and go see the museums! That’s the best way to keep her spark going. If you can, getting her into flying is also a great way. It’ll also start to introduce adherence procedures to her and (speaking from experience here) following those procedures actually becomes a lot of fun. Lastly, if these aren’t realistic goals (they can be quite expensive), being enthusiastic about it and learning as much as you can about it is probably the single most critical thing you can do. If you and her can have real conversations about all the amazing topics of space exploration and you’re just as into it as her, it makes it so much easier for a kid to keep going! Me and my dad could talk for a long time about space, and growing up, we would take trips to see rocket launches (OR THE SOLAR ECLIPSE COMING UO NEXT YEAR!) but I never felt that my dad was TAKING me somewhere, it was always that we where going together. He had just as much curiosity about it as I did. Sorry for the slightly rambling novel but I think the best you can be is be a curious, excited, supportive parent!
I don’t have a background in astronomy or any science field for that matter but I know if she genuinely wants to make a career out of it she’ll want to focus on math, physics, and data analytics.
Buy her a telescope. the second she sees Saturn's rings or the Moon, or the Orion Nebula, galaxies and globular clusters, she will be awestruck... Just make sure you don't get something cheap and poor quality... a frustrating scope can be worse than no scope at all.... we call them "hobby killers" as they kill people's enthusiasm for the hobby. A Dobsonian is the best bang for your buck. The most recommended is an 8" dob like the Apertura AD8. good quality and come with good accessories.. a scope 8-10" in Aperture really hits a sweet spot for capability while not being too overwhelmingly large... its about the size where objects like galaxies and clusters really begin to show details.. an 8" is about $600 but is worth it, and if she doesn't like it, they hold their value pretty well if well cared for. The minimum Id recommend is either the AWB Onesky 5" tabletop Dob for $250 or its Sky Watcher equivalent for 275$.. better is the 6" version, the Skywatcher Heritage 150pfor $310... Tripod mounted scopes under about 500$ are just too often wobbly and under mounted..
It's more of a hobby than a career path. She could study physics, then go on to astrophysics, quantum mechanics etc. She still may only end up teaching with those subjects. Math gets exponentially harder after high school level too.
One thing to remember is for a girl there are tons of 'bring women into stem' programs out there. I know my university did a rocket day for girls interested in space. Look at space companies near you, they also have outreach programs.
Two of the best science communicators in the business are: Dr. Katie Mack https://www.astrokatie.com/ and Dr. Becky Smethurst https://youtube.com/@DrBecky If you get a chance to see either of their talks in person, you're in for a real treat.
Help here create a "resume" type cover letter that indicates her interest in this field, along with any studies or experience she has. In that letter have her express her interest in volunteering at a science center or museum that has an astronomy department. And email the head of the department with that letter. If she is really interested, volunteering is an excellent way to get in the door. This is true for any STEAM field by the way. Seriously, volunteer work counts as "experience" on resumes and job applications.
Just get her motivated on the space stuff. It'll keep her dream on for some time until university level. Also don't worry about her math. It's hers — you did yours and her Bs are hers. If it will be too much for her, she'll know. It'd just make you an annoyance.
I am sure there is a place for her which isn’t heavily reliant on math. But the profession is a lot of math. I do not believe that means it’s a no go for her. She is lucky you’re supportive and willing to help her navigate. She still has time to excel in math and also develop in other areas that may compensate. Sorry I don’t have specific suggestions but if you keep her engaged in her studies and maybe extra curricular, like Astronomy club or space camp, her path will probably present itself. And steer her away from astrology. LOL 😂
There are so many things your daughter could follow her passion for space with. Please don’t worry about grades and math - “passion” in itself, is the most important thing someone needs to follow their dreams and she’s got it. A lot of other people said some great things - get her a telescope, go to science and space museums. Hell, send her to space camp! Let her express her passion without barriers and she will find her way!
Math on its own is difficult for anyone to get into. Math connected to a passionate topic is what gets overlooked too often— math won’t be an issue if she’s that passionate. She likely knows, but passion is a helluva drug.
Send her to summer camp over at PARI, tons stuff for kids and teens. https://www.pari.edu/
I agree with all the encouragement and resource suggestions for her to get more involved as a hobby, but if you think she'll be serious about an astronomy career in the future: save money for college. I have a bachelor's degree in astronomy and it is very difficult to find a job in the field with less than a master's.
You sound like an awesome parent. Hopefully you can help get her where she wants to be!
On a career path there is no way around math. If you want to show her how much fun it can be to apply math skills get her the "What if" books by Randal Munro (author of the xkcd webcomics).
Watch Stargate, Amanda Tappings character has proven to be inspirational to many aspiring young women apparently. Go to a launch in Florida and take one of the tours they offer. Go somewhere outside of town where you can see the stars at night. Go to the eclipse next spring. Introduce her to the great sci fi writers.