I think I was basing the research aspect off of the study of life in extreme environments within biology, having more opportunities for field research to extreme locations to do research than the likelihood or chance of traveling to do field research within astronomy.
I am genuinely interested in both fields, and know what I want to pursue in life, which is why making the distinction between which of my interests will benefit me the most to get to what I want to do is important. I think there can be a vast difference between enjoying a major, but not enjoying it outside of academia. For example, enjoying studying a topic in school, but then hating the work environment or what life outside of academia entails for the field of study; I think this is a lesson people sometimes learn the hard way and then have to go back to school or somehow pursue something else that meets what they want for a work environment. This is why I am attempting to match my major to what I already know I would want for a work environment in field research.
My college offers opportunities for every student to conduct research on campus both in the school year or in the summer, with most students publishing their research papers, and the research being also a paid experience, so I am not worried about that. I am hoping to do an internship next summer though in addition to my research.
The University of Edinburgh program is under the physics and astronomy department, but the people in the Ph.D. program for astrobiology are mainly from biology backgrounds and most of the research required for the Ph.D. is biological such as two of the three research options being life in extreme environments or the habitability of extraterrestrial environments (both of which involve academic staff, researchers, and Ph.D. candidates from biology).