2026 Events

"Leaving astronomy" is something many astronomy students consider at least once. Based on the speaker's experience, this talk shares the trigger for leaving astronomy, the efforts made to transition, and the pros and cons of life after the move. Looking back at student days, there was very little available information on this path, which made it feel quite vague. While this talk doesn't represent every case, it is offered in the hope that it will help YAM members, even in a small way, as they navigate their own career decisions.

The development and progress of observational instruments hold an important place in the history of astronomy. In particular, polarimetric instruments — which can probe the scattering properties of light — provide new information about celestial objects beyond spectroscopy and photometry. The talk covered the speaker's various polarimeter projects, including TRIPOL attached to the former SNU 60 cm telescope, M-TRIPOL on the Bohyunsan 1.8 m telescope, and SQUIDPOL developed jointly with Dr. Juyeon Kim. He also shared experiences relevant to the job search for fellow young astronomers.