The aim of this ebook is to make the journey of becoming an astrophysicist more accessible for aspiring scientists through personal recollections, lessons learned, and practical tips. At the same time, it's an informational read for anyone interested in space with plenty of astronomy facts woven into the story. How to become an astrophysicist? What are some of the basics to learn about astronomy? What do physics studies and space research actually involve? Can those who don’t like maths succeed in the field? If you’re interested to find answers to these questions, this ebook can act as a handy guide to you. It involves the experiences and tips from each phase of an early-career astrophysicist’s path: • Nurturing an interest in space in high school • Physics Bachelor’s degree and internships • Space Sciences Master’s degree, studying abroad • Research experience at the European Space Agency (ESA, YGT programme) • Applying to PhD positions ────────────────── EXCERPTS Introducing an experiment on interactions between Jupiter and its moons, MSc studies “For example, I took a course called Planetary Magnetospheres and Aurorae, which described the behaviour of charged particles in magnetic fields. […] The solar wind—plasma originating from the Sun—flows unimpeded through the Solar System for billions of kilometres, making up a bubble known as the heliosphere. The Earth is directly affected by space weather in the form of geomagnetic storms and auroras. After the heliosphere, the second largest magnetosphere in the solar system is that of Jupiter. The planet is so gigantic that you could put 11 Earths side-by-side to match its diameter, and you could combine the mass of all the other planets *twice* to match its mass. That’s why I was surprised to learn that Jupiter’s tiny moon Io (pronounced as “eye-oh” or “ee-oh”), roughly the size of Earth's moon, affects the gas giant and acts as a strong source of plasma in Jupiter's magnetosphere. There was a brilliant experiment to learn about the system in the course, a violet glow dancing around in a vacuum chamber.” [Description of the experiment follows.] ── Introduction into applying to ESA “My path got an interesting twist to it when a call for master’s graduates came up in my inbox, advertising positions at the European Space Agency (ESA). Their career site listed roughly 100 positions, nearly all of them dedicated to engineering. However, there was one position in astrophysics, and a few keywords matched my experience: Gaia, satellite subsystems, and coding in Python. When looking back at my resume, it’s a whirlwind of astronomy topics—it has always been hard for me to pin down one topic. In addition, I tried to get my hands on space related activities accessible to me, and that got me involved in the student satellite team in my undergraduate. That mix of subjects can be a disadvantage in certain cases where specialised experience in one domain is preferred. However, my wall-to-wall past internships aligned in a constellation that made me the right fit.” ────────────────── P.S. The quantity option is enabled as a way to leave a tip for the author—this is an option for those who'd like to show extra support for the time and work that goes into creating informational content.