I'm not saying they don't have good physics or maths training, they don't have the necessary astronomical theory behind them. If they went and did astrophysics, quantum mechanics, relativity etc etc, they could handle it, but that would mean another 18 months to 2 years of undergrad just for starters...or they could do a combined coursework/research masters degree to catch up with the undergrad stuff and to get the required research training, and then do a PhD. Your "joe average" engineer doesn't have the background to be able to do research in astrophysics/astronomy etc. Not until they do more study. Like yourself, if you wanted to really get into this, you'd need to do whatever bits of a BSc in Astronomy or Physics you needed to get the background (have your BE credited towards your BSc...you'd probably only need to do 18 months) at the very least, or a Masters before you went on further. Your Masters will take 2 years or so. Then it's your PhD, which is nominally 3 years. So, by the time you finish, you're 90 years old and $100K in debt
