Noun

astronomy (plural astronomies)

1. The study of the physical universe beyond the Earth's atmosphere, including the process of mapping locations and properties of the matter and radiation in the universe.

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe.

Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures left behind astronomical artifacts such as the Egyptian monuments and Stonehenge, and early civilizations such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese, and Indians performed methodical observations of the night sky. However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, the making of calendars, and even astrology, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics.

During the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of celestial objects, which is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.

Amateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena.

Ancient astronomy is not to be confused with astrology, the belief system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Although the two fields share a common origin and a part of their methods (namely, the use of ephemerides), they are distinct.

Astronomy is the science of celestial objects such as stars, planets, comets and galaxies.

Contents

• 1 Sourced
• 2 Attributed
• 3 See also
• 4 External links

Sourced

• Space is big. Really big. You won't believe how hugely mindboggling big it really is.
  • Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1979

• Although Uranus and Neptune are superficially twin planets, they are different enough to remind us - as do Venus and Earth - that we still have a lot to learn about the mix of natural laws and historical accidents that formed the planets and fashioned their destinies.
  • Timothy Ferris - Seeing in the Dark, 2002

• The wonder is, not that the field of stars is so vast, but that man has measured it.
  • Anatole France - The Garden of Epicurus, 1894

• Over the rim of waiting earth the moon lifted with majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings...
  • Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows, 1908

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Fri Jul 23 07:34:10 2010