Astronomy Astronomy


Astronomy, which etymologically means " law of the stars ", (from Greek : αστρονομία =άστρον + νόμος ) is a science involving the observation andexplanation of events occurring outside Earth andits atmosphere . It studies the origins, evolution, physicaland chemical properties of objects that can be observed in the sky (and are outside the earth), as well as the processesinvolving them.

Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs still playan active role, especially in the discovery and monitoring of transient phenomena . Astronomy is not to be confused with astrology , a pseudoscience that attempts to predict a person's destiny by tracking thepaths of astronomical objects. Although the two fields share a common origin, they are quite different; astronomers embrace the scientific method , while astrologers do not.

Table of contents
1 Divisions of astronomy

1.1 By subject or problem addressed
1.2 Ways of obtaining information

2 Short history
3 Timelines in astronomy
4 See also
5 Astronomy tools
6 External links

6.1 Organizations
6.2 References: Formulas and Constants
6.3 External Links

Divisions of astronomy

In its earliest days, going back to ancient Greece and other ancientcivilizations, astronomy consisted largely of astrometry , measuring positionsof stars and planets in the sky. Later, the work of Kepler and Newton paved the way for celestial mechanics , mathematically predicting the motions of celestial bodies interacting undergravity, and solar system objects in particular. Much of the effort inthese two areas, once done largely by hand, is highly automated nowadays, to the extent that they are rarely considered asindependent disciplines anymore. Motions and positions of objects are now easily known, and modern astronomy concerns itself muchmore with trying to observe and understand the actual physical nature of celestial objects—what makes them "tick".

Ever since the twentieth century the field of professional astronomy has tended to split into observational astronomy and theoretical astrophysics . Although most astronomersincorporate elements of both into their research, because of the different skills involved, most professional astronomers tend tospecialize in one or the other. Observational astronomy is concerned mostly with getting data, which involves building andmaintaining instruments and processing the resulting data; this branch is at times referred to as "astrometry" or simply as"astronomy." Theoretical astrophysics is concerned mainly with figuring out the observational implications of different models,and involves working with computer or analytic models.

The fields of study are also categorized in another two ways: by "subject", usually according to the region of space (e.g.Galactic astronomy) or "problems addressed" (such as star formation or cosmology); or by the way used for obtaininginformation.

By subject or problem addressed

  • Astrobiology : the study of the advent and evolution of biologicalsystems in the universe.
  • Astrometry : the study of the position of objects in the sky and theirchanges of position. Defines the system of coordinates used and the kinematics of objects in our galaxy.
  • Cosmology : the study of the universe as a whole and its evolution.
  • Galactic astronomy : the study of the structure andcomponents of our galaxy and of other galaxies.
  • Extragalactic astronomy : the study of objects(mainly galaxies) outside our galaxy.
  • Galaxy formation and evolution : thestudy of the formation of the galaxies, and their evolution.
  • Planetary Sciences : the study of the planets of the solar system .
  • Stellar astronomy : the study of the stars.
  • Stellar evolution : the study of the evolution of stars fromtheir formation to their end as a stellar remnant.
  • Star formation : the study of the condition and processes that ledto the formation of stars in the interior of gas clouds, and the process of formation itself.

Also, there are other disciplines that may be considered part of astronomy:

See list of astronomical topics for a moreexhaustive list of astronomy-related pages.

Ways of obtaining information

In astronomy, information is mainly received from the detection and analysis of electromagnetic radiation , photons , butinformation is also carried by cosmic rays , neutrinos , meteors , and, in the near future, gravitational waves (see LIGO and LISA ).

A traditional division of astronomy is given by the region of the electromagnetic spectrum observed:

Optical and radio astronomy can be performed with ground-based observatories , because the atmosphere istransparent at those wavelengths. Infrared light is heavily absorbed by watervapor , so infrared observatories have to be located in high, dry places or in space.

The atmosphere is opaque at the wavelengths used by X-rayastronomy , gamma-ray astronomy , UV astronomy and, except for a few wavelength "windows", Far infrared astronomy , so observations can be carried out onlyfrom balloons or spaceobservatories .

Short history

In the early part of its history, astronomy involved only the observation and predictions of the motions of the objects in thesky that could be seen with the naked eye. The Rigveda refers to the 27 constellations associated with the motions of the sun and also the 12 zodiacal divisions of the sky. The ancient Greeks made important contributions to astronomy, among them the definition of the magnitude system. The Bible contains a number of statements on the position of the earth in the universe and the nature of the stars and planets, most ofwhich are poetic rather than literal; see Biblical cosmology .In 500 AD , Aryabhata presented a mathematicalsystem that took the earth to spin on its axis and considered the motions of the planets with respect to the sun.

Astronomy was mostly stagnant in medieval Europe , but flourished meanwhile in the Arab world. The late 9th century Islamic astronomer al-Farghani (Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani) wrote extensively on the motion ofcelestial bodies. His work was translated into Latin in the 12th century .In the late 10th century , a huge observatory was built near Tehran , Iran , by the astronomer al-Khujandi who observed a series of meridian transits of the Sun, which allowed him tocalculate the obliquity of the ecliptic. In Persia, Omar Khayyam (Ghiyathal-Din Abu'l-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Nisaburi al-Khayyami) compiled many tables and performed a reformation of the calendar that was more accurate than the Julian and came close to the Gregorian .

During the Renaissance Copernicus proposed a heliocentric model ofthe Solar System . His work was defended, expanded upon, and corrected by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler . Kepler was the first to devise a system that described correctly the details of the motionof the planets with the Sun at the center. However, Kepler did not succeed in formulating a theory behind the laws he wrote down.It was left to Newton's invention of celestial dynamics and his law of gravitation to finally explain the motions of the planets .

Stars were found to be faraway objects. With the advent of spectroscopy it was proved that they were similar to our own sun, but with a wide range of temperatures , masses and sizes. The existence of our galaxy , the Milky Way , as a separate group ofstars was only proven in the 20th century, along with the existence of "external" galaxies, and soon after, the expansion of the universe seen in the recession of most galaxies from us. Cosmology made huge advances during the 20th century, with the model of the big bang heavily supported by the evidence provided by astronomy and physics, such as the cosmic microwave backgroundradiation , Hubble's Law and cosmological abundances of elements .

For a more detailed history of astronomy, see the history of astronomy .

Timelines in astronomy

See also

Astronomy tools

External links

Organizations

References: Formulas and Constants

External Links

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