I'd like to become an astronomer. What experience do I need? I think I'd like to become an astronomer. What degrees and training/experience do I need to become one? I've heard I should take science and mathematics, but I don't know which specific courses I should take and which degrees I would need to become an astronomer.
Well, if you want to become a professional astronomer, there is no obvious answer, since education systems can be quite different depending on your country. But astronomy &amp; astrophysics is physics in the end, so a good training and strong knownledge in physics are definitely required (that involves math for sure). And in countries/universities where you can find an astronomy-oriented degree (at master level most of the time, before that it does not really make sense), you won't be surprised that most of the lectures are actually just physics or math.

Then, to get a PhD in the field is the way to go.

As for the positions, you can find some statistics in this paper released by ESO (the European Southern Observatory) for jobs in astronomy in the 2009/2010 hiring season. Bottom line is there were 65 opened positions worldwilde, that cannot be consider as "a lot".