Jane DoeWhat exactly is “up there”? Up there? Yes, “Up there”! Have you ever tried lying down on the ground or a roof top in the night under the open sky? Have you noticed the stars, comets, constellations, planets, moon and sun? Well you might say yes as far as stars, moon and sun is concerned. What about the others? So let me tell you, Astronomy is actually a science of all these things “up there”. Study of their evolution, origination and what phenomena occurs in and out around them is called Astronomy.
In ancient times people who used to do star gazing were also called astronomers. Astronomers these days have heavy and costly telescopes and many other instruments to measure and observe the sky. But in the ancient time, without any instruments the astronomers have given some vague ideas regarding the objects floating in the sky.
Is Astronomy & Astrology the Same?
Many times people confuse Astronomy with Astrology. The main difference is that Astronomy is actually based on a Greek word which means “Law of stars” whereas Astrology is all about prediction of human affairs based on the placement of the celestial objects. Although these two fields have a common origin but now they are quite distinct from each other.
What more interested me towards Astronomy is that it is one of the rare field in science where amateur astronomers can also contribute a lot. In the recent times, amateurs have also contributed to many important discoveries in this field. Usually they build the instruments themselves and start observing the working of stars around nebulae, galaxies, etc.
Apart from this one more form of amateur astronomer consists of astro-photographers. Astro-photographers take pictures of night sky and due to the improvements in digital technology, astro-photography has become quite popular.
Curiosity is good for this hobby
Well then, if you find yourself quite curious and want to dive and dig into this field and then the future is yours. I would like to share a list of unanswered questions and unsolved mysteries in the field of astronomy which I hope someday somebody in the near future will be able to solve these.
Is there other life in Universe?
Is there other intelligent life?
How did galaxies first form?
What exactly caused the universe to form?
What is the fate of universe?
The Dark Matter
Interesting isn’t it? Let us than dive into some interesting facts about this field. Scientists claim that what we see is only 5% of matter in the universe. Rest is invisible and mysterious dark matter and dark energy! When we look up in the sky we are actually looking back in time. Why? The reason is the light from some stars and galaxies take thousand and millions of year to reach us thus we actually see the object which would be a thousand or million years old.
Having said that, it is basically all about going out and looking up. Beginning to study the patterns and the objects ‘up there’. Studying various arrangements of the stars in the sky. Getting a telescope or binoculars and thinking about the solutions to the unsolved mysteries discussed before. ‘Go and do it. Sky is your limit!’
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