what academic background does it need?
PhD in physics or astronomy
Astronomer
 PhD in physics or astronomy
what does noble gas mean? Odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity. who discovered the first nobel gas? Pierre Janssen and Joseph Norman Lockyer and which was it? Helium who is the former by profession? A French astronomer what kind of work does the astronomers do? They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies who are the amateurs in this profession? Some devote a few hours a month to stargazing and reading the latest developments in research, others assist professional astronomers in research.
wiki:1545924
Astronomer [SEP] Academic
Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws. Today, that distinction has mostly disappeared and the terms "astronomer" and "astrophysicist" are interchangeable. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a PhD in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities. They spend the majority of their time working on research, although they quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments, or aiding in the operation of an observatory. The number of professional astronomers in the United States is actually quite small.