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"bold iron" seems to have gone quiet amongst all this excellent advice.
Perhaps a true story from my past may cause him to re-think his outlook - not that I would wish to discourage him at all, just be aware of the facts.
When I was 15, my first choice of career was also to be an astronomer. I elected to study the required Level 1 maths and physics in high school but struggled with the higher learning and soon realised I would not make it.
As many on this forum know, after high school I went to sea as a ship's officer (they use the stars for navigation) and pursued that until retirement.
Some years back when I was a ship's captain, I saw an advertisement in "The Australian" newspaper for astronomers at ANU. The job entailed working on campus, and at the AAT. Requirements for the positions were extensive - PhD's and much more. Clearly only open to very smart qualified people, much brighter than me!
Then I looked at the salary range - the pay was less than half what I was then earning.
Fact is that we do not pay our scientists well in Australia. Be aware of that when putting in the many hours of necessary study.
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