I read up some more on Astrophysics and found out that I need programming knowledge. I am almost 17 and don’t know any computer programming language, but I’ve been into computers for years and good at operating them, just that I don’t know how to program. Do I need to know programming? If I do, will I just be able to learn it in the Computer Science course in college or will I have to learn it on my own? Thanks for the help!
You’ll learn it through the coursework required for your major, or as part of research projects. If you have a major like physics or astronomy, you’ll want to look at grad school requirements and pick courses that meet them or work in labs that teach those skills.
You might find that you’re less interested in the PhD route and more interested in some other path, and that’s okay, too.
The computer science department at the college you attend will typically offer a selection of lower level courses suitable for students both with or without a programming background. You could choose the latter, then progress from that point as appropriate.
You’ll be absolutely fine not knowing how to program before going to college. On the other hand you’ll be doing/learning a lot of programming as an Astro major.
Why not spend a little time now learning Python on your own? If you’ve got the brains to be successful in astrophysics, learning a little programming is going to be trivial.
There are plenty of online options, including free textbooks. This one seems as good as any imo: https://media.readthedocs.org/pdf/howtothink/latest/howtothink.pdf
Good luck!