Astronomy is known as The science devoted to the study of the celestial bodies that inhabit the universe : stars, planets, satellites, comets, meteorites, galaxies and all interstellar matter, in addition to their interactions and motions.
It is a very ancient science, because the sky and its mysteries constituted one of the first unknowns formulated by man, giving it in many cases mythological or religious answers. It is also one of the few sciences that currently allows For her enthusiasts to participate .
In addition, astronomy has not only existed as an independent science, but has also accompanied other fields of knowledge and other disciplines, such as navigation – especially in the absence of maps and compasses – and, more recently, physics, for whose understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe it turns out that observing the behavior of the universe has value Enormous and incomparable.
Thanks to astronomy, mankind has achieved some of its greatest scientific milestones And technology in recent times, such as interspatial travel, or determining the location of the Earth within the galaxy, or detailed observation of the atmospheres and surfaces of the planets of the solar system. Solar energy, when not from systems several light years from our planet.
The history of astronomy
Astronomy is One of the oldest human sciences Since ancient times the stars and celestial vault objects have captured their attention and curiosity. Great scholars in this field are ancient philosophers such as Aristotle, Thales of Miletus, Anaxagoras, Aristarchus of Samos, or Hipparchus of Nicaea, and post-Renaissance scholars such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Edmund Halley, or contemporaries. Specialists like Stephen Hawkins.
The ancients studied the sky, the moon and the sun so extensively that The Greeks already knew the roundness of the earth , but they assumed that the stars revolved around the planet, and not the other way around. This would continue until the end of the European Middle Ages, when the Scientific Revolution questioned many of the universal foundations that religion held to be sacred.
Later, in the twentieth century, new advanced technologies available to mankind allowed a greater understanding of light and therefore of telescopic observation techniques, bringing with it new concepts of the universe and the elements that compose it.
branches of astronomy
Astronomy consists of the following branches or subfields:
- Astrophysics. The fruit of applying physics to astronomy to explain celestial properties and phenomena, formulate laws, measure quantities, and express results mathematically through formulas.
- astronomy. Known as external geology or planetary geology, it concerns the application of knowledge obtained during excavations and explanatory observations on the planet Earth, to other celestial bodies whose composition can be known from afar or even, as is the case for the Moon and Mars, by sending probes to collect rock samples .
- Astronauts. From the frequent observation of the stars, man began to dream of visiting them. Astrology is precisely the branch of science that seeks to make this dream possible.
- Celestial mechanics. The fruit of a collaboration between classical or Newtonian mechanics and astronomy, this discipline focuses on the motion of celestial bodies, due to the gravitational effects that other bodies of greater mass have on them.
- Planetary science. Also called planetary science, it focuses on the accumulated knowledge of the known and unknown planets, that is, those that make up our solar system and those far from it. This ranges from objects the size of meteorites to massive gas giants.
- X-ray astronomy – Together with other astronomical branches specialized in types of radiation or light (electromagnetic radiation), this branch constitutes a specialized approach to the measurement of X-rays from outer space, and the conclusions that can be drawn from them outside the universe.
- astronomy measurement. It is the branch responsible for measuring astronomical position and motions, that is, mapping the visible universe in some way. Perhaps the oldest branch ever.
The difference between astronomy and astrology
The difference between these two disciplines is fundamental.
When we talk about astronomy we refer to Science that uses the scientific method Logically to make his measurements and proofs
Which can be refuted and is based on analysable experiments and mathematically supported theories.
Astrology, on the other hand, is a “occult science” or pseudoscience Any explanatory doctrine of reality has no scientific basis
It does not respond to other areas of factual, verifiable knowledge, but is based on itself and the exclusive rules of the game.
If astronomy is the scientific understanding of the universe, then astrology is the explanation of terrestrial phenomena through shapes drawn randomly on the stars.