Astronomy and The Universe

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Astronomy occupies a single position with sciences and that its benefits to our society are not always apparent. Chemistry and physics benefit the progress of technology, and biology often benefit in assistance for medical and agricultural research. Astronomy is an exception: astronomical knowledge really has no direct influence or impact on our life. Astronomy does not assist new technology or develop medicines and surely astronomy does not help increase our standards of living.

Despite the lack of direct applications with astronomy, universities and governments spend large amount of money on giant optical, radio telescopes, and on special space spacecraft. Astronomers and astrophysicists dedicate their entire careers to further the understanding of phenomena observed directly or indirectly in the universe and space.

That leads to the reality that astronomy plays a vital role in society, comparable to that of art, literature, scholarship, or music. The study in astronomy is fuel by the desire to understand the world we live in, to satisfy our never-ending thirst for knowledge.

Throughout human history, astronomy played a significant part in the advancement of the science of physics.

Isaac Newton discovered the laws of gravity while he was trying to understand the force that held the planets in their orbits around the sun. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity has been verified through astronomical observation. It is probable that high-energy physicists at work and now we will learn much about the universe from high-energy processes observed in the sky.

Astronomy has a number of disciplines. Classical astronomy refers to the description of the celestial sphere and the location of stars using celestial coordinates. It also deals with the motions of the moon, sun, and planets and their satellites, as well as celestial objects like comets.

From the start classical astronomy has had important practical applications. Celestial observations were use to keep time and construct calendars. Knowledge of the exact positions of stars has served as the basis of navigation.

Newton’s discovery of the laws of gravitation helped scientists construct accurate calculations of the trajectories of celestial bodies in space; this field became known as celestial mechanics. Today the knowledge of celestial mechanics is a great importance for the computation of the trajectories of spacecraft.

In the 19th century, was the introduction of the spectroscope. Astronomers can begin to examine the chemical makeup of the sun, stars, planets, and nebulas. This study is called astrophysics; today it comprises the study of stellar interiors, the evolution of stars, and the processes that govern energy production in stars and extragalactic systems. Astrophysics also covers the study of the black holes, supernovas, pulsars, and quasars.

Innovative observational techniques have revolutionized the field of astronomy since the end of World War II. Radio telescopes and observations in infrared light and x-rays have deeply extended the observable universe. These innovative observational techniques have contributed to new fields in astronomy: radio astronomy, ultraviolet and infrared astronomy, and x-ray astronomy.

Cosmology is the study of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. Modern scientists base their conception of the universe on two important discoveries: the recession of galaxies, discovered by Edwin Hubble in the 1920’s, and the presence of cosmic background radiation, which tends to confirm the theory that the universe began with a huge explosion, the “big bang”.