Astronomy

Nature of the Subject

Astronomy is arguably a unique branch of the sciences in being an area of study that many nonscientists consider as their hobby. In this sense, it is a discipline which is open to all. Further, the astronomer’s playground (i.e., the sky at night) belongs to everyone and everyone can make discoveries – and there are so many to be made! The subject’s popularity is a result of many combining factors:

Romance – Astronomy is the stuff of legend. In times past, when religion and superstition were intimately linked to heavenly phenomena, the unexpected was often greeted with grave concern. By observing the motions and properties of objects in the sky, it was possible to understand more about the universe.

Wonder – Astronomy has been a breeding ground for many science fiction films and programs such as Star Trek and Star Wars. This has resulted in amazing images of star filled panoramas, prominences of the Sun and supernova explosions being brought into everyone’s living room.

The search for the ultimate truth – Everyone can look up into the night sky and dream. Are there other planets like us? Is there life out there? Astronomy promises to explain how we got here and where the universe is going – questions which touch every human on the planet.

The above are just three of the reasons why Astronomy is considered as a glamour science. Beyond this, it is a rich and fertile area for scientific research and human endeavour, bringing together areas as diverse as Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Geography, Earth Science, History, Economics and Religion. Astronomy pulls together the very limits of our understanding of the world we live in, from the experimental observations of Tycho Brae, through Newton’s law of Gravitation, Einstein’s theories of relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Astronomy has been the driving force and the universe the natural laboratory for many of the greatest advances in science.