Are there many career opportunities in astrophysics?

I'm 16, and I want to do astrophysics in college, but i've heard that there are very few jobs available ( i live in Ireland.)

Like so many of these things, you don't do it as job training. You do it because you are interested. Because you want to. You don't care if they pay you or not, because you'd do it anyway.

If this describes you, go for it. If it doesn't, you may want to reconsider.

Astrophysics is usually a PhD program. If you are interested in the amount of research they do then I suggest it. But I would suggest an undergraduate degree in Physics and then choose your path from there. There are some really cool things to do in high energy physics that relates to astrophysics

Yeah, I haven't heard of Ireland making bombs recently

Well, go ahead then. Even if you don't get a job with a space agency, an observatory, or a university, astrophysics still makes a pretty fun hobby. I've been playing around with it for a while, and it's a more reliable source of entertainment then even reading fantasy novels. (Watching professional astrophysicists is fun too; they are such monkeys.)

Ireland is difficult. For one thing, I rather doubt that you can complete a PhD in astrophysics in Ireland. If you earn the PhD, though, there are jobs in the EU as well as the USA. These include obvious things such as working in observatories, universities, or planetariums, as well as various industries or governmental agencies, such as NASA (USA) or ESA (EU) or one of the national agencies comprising ESA. Weather, military, communications, spy, and other defense-related governmental agencies and corporate contractors would be a possibility, as well as firms manufacturing launch vehicles, satellites, telescopes (and related equipment), planetariums, and astronomical publications and publishers.

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Astrophysics from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology. I graduated in 2000.

The other responder is correct about having to go to grad school to make a career out of Astrophysics. I had planned to do this, but the calculus just got too hard my senior year.

You could end up being a professor or researcher at a university with a PhD in Astrophysiscs, but there's nothing really out there in the commercial sector. My advisor once told me that making a career out of Astrophysics is similar to becoming a NFL quarterback... it can be done, but there is a lot of competition and you have to be pretty darn good.

I enjoyed all the classes I took in college, and I learned a lot. But, I realized that a career with Astrophysics was not in my future. I accepted that and moved on. Incidently, I've been working for a pharmaceutical company for the last 7 years as a Quality Specialist. As my first boss once said, you go to school to learn about what you like, and you get a job that pays the bills.

Good luck!

Not these days. Between learning that lack of gravity, and abundance of cosmic radiation, make space uninhabitable for humans to a point technology can't overcome, and all those tax cuts killing funding for research, there is little market for astrophysics work, and more than enough wannabe workers to cover any openings which do come up. Too few jobs, and too many applicants, already exist.

The question is, do you want to STAY in Ireland? If so, yes, that will make it much more competitive. Especially considering that you'll have to work in the specific fields currently being researched at the few places in Ireland that may decide to hire. However, if you're willing to move (say, to other parts of Europe or the US), you'll have a lot more opportunities.

Other people had good suggestions - you'll need a PhD for one thing. And major in physics! Physics is essential for getting into a grad school for astrophysics - much more so than the actual astronomy. And don't skimp on the math and computer science either!