Department Contact: Mr. William Ketzeback, 575-437-0954, bketzeba@nmsu.edu

Internal or External Search: External - Open to all applicants

Advertising Summary: New Mexico State University Department of Astronomy is seeking a Support Astronomer for the SDSS-V 2.5m Telescope at Apache Point Observatory (APO) in Sunspot, New Mexico. The Support Astronomer is responsible for safe and efficient operations of the SDSS-V 2.5m Telescope. APO is located in the Lincoln National Forest 16 miles from the village of Cloudcroft, NM. The observatory sits on a ridge overlooking White Sands National Park, White Sands Missile Test Range and Alamogordo, NM. With great seeing, dark skies, wide field optical/infrared imaging and spectroscopy. Working at APO employees have the opportunity to lead/participate in research on the telescopes, tuition waivers to take classes at NMSU, or attend/present at conferences for professional development.

Position Details

Position Title: Support Astronomer

College/Division: Arts and Sciences College

Department: 330300-ASTRONOMY

Location: Remote

Offsite Location (if applicable): Sunspot, NM

Target Hourly/Salary Rate: 53,165.80

Appointment Full-time Equivalency: 1.0

FLSA Status: Exempt

Bargaining Unit Announcement: This is NOT a bargaining unit position with American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Contingent Upon Funding: Contingent upon external funding

Standard Work Schedule: Shift: Other Shift

If Not a Standard Work Schedule: Monday - Sunday, 8pm - 6am, night shift, afternoon, weekends and holidays may be required. 

Job Duties and Responsibilities: The Support Astronomer (SA) is responsible for the nightly operation of the 2.5m telescope and instruments, quality monitoring of data streams, tracking system performance, and observing efficiency. The SA works closely with Astronomers and external consortium faculty and students, operating the telescope and instruments remotely, to efficiently take observations and debug issues. They work with other night staff to monitor the facility, weather, and safe and proper operation of the telescope.

The selected candidate will perform setup/instrument preparations and calibrations, service observing and monitoring of remotely operated telescopes. Monitoring the performance of equipment and effectively communicating any problems with the day engineering and IT staff is required.

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience: 
Associate's Degree + 4 years of relevant experience or a Bachelor's degree + 2 years of relevant experience.

Equivalent Qualifications: 

Preferred Qualifications: 
For the SA position, Apache Point Observatory (APO) is seeking an individual with a Master’s Degree + 4 years of experience in Astronomy or a related field, or a PhD.
Desired experience includes:
Understanding of astronomical coordinate systems and time keeping.
Prior experience operating telescopes and astronomical instrumentation.
Hands on experience operating small to medium (0.5m to 3.5m) telescopes and the associated mechanical and computer systems.
Proficiency in Unix/Linux and IRAF; a background in imaging and spectroscopic data reduction, as well as CCD instrumentation and electronics.
Previous experience programming in one or more of the following programing languages applied to astronomical problems or data: IRAF, IDL, Python, C is desirable.

Experience working with large datasets, working with astronomical survey data, or SDSS data products is desired. Experience collecting or reducing fiber-fed spectroscopic data is desired. 

Special Certification/Licensure: 
Candidate must have a valid driving license.

Working Conditions and Physical Effort

Environment: Work is normally performed indoors.

Physical Effort: Moderate physical activity.

Lifting Requirements: Requires handling of average-weight objects up to 25 pounds or standing and/or walking for more than four (4) hours per day.

Risk: Work environment involves some exposure to hazards or physical risks, which require following basic safety precautions.