What study profiles could land me the job of astronomer? I realize there are very few to none universities that offer direct specialization of astronomy. If I aspired to be make astronomy my career choice, I'd likely have to pick something like physics and specialize later - or something similar - but that's just my hunch, and I'd prefer to know for sure.

What educational and professional paths optimize one's education and skill set for the occupation of astronomer? How do I become one?
What you need would be at least the following:


Physics: astronomy is physics in the end, and you'll need strong basis in physics;
Math: as for any good education in physics, you'll need a reasonable amount of math to be able to become an astronomer;
Programming: it's almost impossible nowadays to get away from it. Being an astronomer today implies lots of data processing (to reduce the data, to interpret it etc.), and it involves a lot of coding.


And, as far as I know, in lots of countries/universities, you can find at least few astronomy &amp; astrophysics courses. In some countries, you can even find dedicated master degrees.

With all of that, you'll be ready to start a PhD in astronomy to become a professional astronomer.