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Astronomy studies celestial objects and phenomena. It has been practiced since prehistoric times and relies on physical theories like Newton’s laws. Heliocentrism gained popularity in the Renaissance, and telescopes were invented. Modern astronomy uses various technologies, including orbital observatories and the Big Bang theory. Interferometry is a promising future technology for observing exoplanets directly.
Astronomy is the study of celestial objects, phenomena and origins. One of the oldest sciences, astronomy has been practiced since prehistoric times. Modern astronomy depends heavily on accepted physical theories, such as Newton’s laws of motion and general relativity. In the past, astronomy was something anyone could do, and many seers and sages made a reputation for themselves using the stars for useful functions, such as telling what time of year it is, or navigating the seas. Columbus and his contemporaries used the stars to navigate across the Atlantic Ocean.
It was not until the Renaissance that the theory of heliocentrism in astronomy, the idea that the Earth orbits the Sun and not vice versa, began to gain popularity. Reflecting telescopes were invented in the early 1600s, and Galileo Galilei used them to make detailed observations of our Moon, which he turned out to be mountainous, and to observe Jupiter’s four largest moons, now called the Galilean moons in honor of him. Newton improved on Galileo’s design, inventing the reflecting telescope, which is still used in optical telescopes to this day.
IN 1781, Sir William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. In 1838, parallax – the slight difference in stellar position due to the position of the Earth in its orbit – was used to accurately determine the distance to stars. Neptune was discovered soon after. Pluto was only recently discovered in 1930.
Modern astronomy is very complicated and expensive. Instead of just looking at light rays, we look at radar, infrared, X-rays and even cosmic rays. Orbital observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope have produced the best images, including very high-resolution photographs of other galaxies.
In the mid-20th century it was discovered that the universe was expanding. This, along with other evidence, led to the Big Bang theory, which holds that the entire universe began as a point particle of extreme density. Subsequent observations of the cosmic microwave background confirmed this, and the Big Bang continues to be the primary theory of cosmological origins to this day.
The future of astronomy lies in the development of new observation technologies. One of interest is interferometry, sometimes called “hypertelescopes,” which uses a network of telescopes working cooperatively to resolve images. These could develop to the point where we can observe exoplanets directly with telescopes, rather than simply detecting them by their gravitational signature.
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