Fame
Famous astrophysicists include such esteemed names as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. To be fair, those first three died a long time ago, but they also surpassed the "fame" status—those guys are straight-up legends.
If you contribute a theory that revolutionizes the way we look at the universe, your name could be up in the hall of famous geniuses right next to (perhaps) the most famous of universe-figurers, Einstein.
The field of astrophysics has changed a lot since the days of Copernicus and Newton; while their work may seem primitive to us, we couldn't have gotten where we are today without them. Someday, future astrophysicists will look back and appreciate the knowledge contributed by today's researchers, and those who broke real ground will be remembered and celebrated.
What we're saying is that fame in the world of astrophysics is different than fame in the world of, say, sports, or potato chip manufacturing. If you earn fame in astrophysics, your name will echo throughout the future of humanity as future scientists expand on your work to help us conquer the universe.
Unfortunately, unless you figure out time travel (which, hey, you never know), you won't live to see most of your work be fully taken advantage of by society. But that's because astrophysicists dream big, and it takes the engineers a few generations to catch up.
The other route to fame here is the Neil deGrasse Tyson way: bringing the universe to the people. If you have the uncommon combination of science lab brains and TV talk show host charisma, the deGrasse Tyson method might just be your meal ticket.