Phenomena outside the earths atmosphere are also studied. Astronomy is an exciting field that most people have at least some interest in. A person who studies astronomy is called an astronomer astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. After conquering the city, alexander the great ordered the translation of the babylonian astronomical records, thus causing the knowledge to spread worldwide. That includes supernovae explosions, gamma ray bursts. Its basic activity is to study the sky and learn about what we see in the universe. The astronomy textbook builds student understanding through the use of relevant analogies, clear and nontechnical explanations. Nov 12, 2016 dean regas, an astronomer and public outreach educator at the cincinnati observatory, wrote facts from space. Our nation needs your help to continue to reach new heights in space science and industry. Get ebooks foundations of astronomy on pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi and audiobook for free.
The universe is comprehensible through scientific principles that anyone can understand. Astronomy from the greek astron meaning star and nomos n. Astronomy facts building your background even though you dont need to know the greek names of the constellations or understand the nature of black holes in order to relish the night sky, you might want to anyway. Mar 04, 2011 45 there are at least 1024 stars in the universe.
Just like you look up at the night sky and think about the stars, people have been interested in space for thousands of years. What we know of it, through the scanty information reaching us from. The earth is the only planet in our solar system not to be named after a greek or roman deity. While providing education, the book is meant to spark passion for the science and the space industry by highlighting discoveries and outcomes. Astronomy has information and images from the new horizons exploration of. For the vast majority of ancient astronomers, the stars seemed to be equally distant from earth in what was an earthcentered or geocentric cosmos. A single day on venus is longer than an entire year on earth. Facts about the sun2011 shreveportbossier astronomical.
The largest circular storm in our solar system is on the surface of which of the following planets. Here is a list of some remarkable and fascinating astronomy facts. Astronomy is the study of the universe and everything in it. We are a part of the universe and thus can learn about our origins by studying the universe. Astronomy is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of one or twosemester introductory astronomy courses. To study astronomy, you might have to stay up late to see the stars. The sun is 865,000 miles in diameter about 109 times the diameter of the earth 3. This revised and expanded edition contains more than 200 new entries that. Big ideas in astronomy international astronomical union.
Since then, astronomical observations with tele scopes have. Sep 16, 2017 here are interesting 33 astronomy facts. There are millions of people in the world who stargaze regularly from their backyards or personal observatories. The phases of the moon are caused by the relative position of the sun, earth and moon.
There are more than 1 million books that have been enjoyed by people from all over the world. National aeronautics and space administration page last. National aeronautics 2 and space administration space based atronomy. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and. Astronomy literacy goals is a project by leiden observatory, leiden. Earth is the third planet from the sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. She was an entrepreneur and founded her own company at the age of 50, a science communication company called sally ride science. You can access this textbook for free in web view or pdf through, and for a low cost in print. In astronomy, the main source of information about celestial. Nasa, voyager 2 mission during its epic journey through our solar system, the voyager 2 spacecraft sent back this image of uranus.
Facts about astronomy talk about the study of the celestial objects which include asteroids, nebulae, comet, galaxies, planets, sun, stars and moons. You can also find the cosmic microwave, gamma ray burst and supernovae explosion in astronomy. Born in bulgaria, i have lived in places like germany, belgium and iraq, before settling down with my family in luxembourg. These are closest to the sun and are called the terrestrial planets simply because the have very solid rocky surfaces. The planets all revolve in the same direction about the sun. Dean regas, an astronomer and public outreach educator at the cincinnati observatory, wrote facts from space.
With varied interests, i have always suffered from an insatiable appetite for facts stemming from an unrestrainable intellectual curiosity. The 10 best space and astronomy sites on the internet. This includes stars, planets and galaxies as well as other things. Astronomy, science that encompasses the study of all extraterrestrial objects and phenomena. Science is not a body of facts but rather a process through which we seek to understand the world around us. On june 19, 1983, she also became the youngest american to go to space at the age of 32. Mars is the 4 th planet from the sun 149,000,000 miles from the sun. For the vast majority of ancient astronomers, the stars seemed to be equally distant from earth 1 in what was an earthcentered or geocentric cosmos. This measurement comes from the distance between the earth and sun, where 1 a. Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies and phenomena that originate outside the earths atmosphere such as the cosmic background. We provide a rich supply of information and resources on astronomy for beginners. Facts about mars shreveportbossier astronomical society.
This revised and expanded edition contains more than 200 new entries that reflect the most recent advances in space and astronomy. The astronomy textbook builds student understanding through the use of relevant analogies, clear and nontechnical. Facts concerning the solar system all the planets roughly orbit the sun in a plane. Even though you dont need to know the greek names of the constellations or understand the nature of black holes in order to relish the night sky, you might want to anyway. Many thanks to those students for their interest and questions.
Mar 15, 20 shahidur rahman sikder august, 2019 at 19. One of the fundamental facts of life at earths midlatitudes, where most of this. The plain, blue image you see here disguises all the. A common unit of measurement in astronomy is the a. At least now we have all the archaeological facts to go along with the astronomers, the druids, the flat.
Astronomy for kids uranus from voyager 2 uranus from voyager 2 image courtesy of. Astronomy offers you the most exciting visually stunning thorough, and timely coverage of the heavens above. The sun is an ordinary star with eight planets and various dwarf planets and asteroids orbiting around it. The period was the foundation and the essence of the first science of the stars. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic. This plane is roughly the same as the rotational equator of the sun. Pdf astronomy is enjoying a golden age of exploration and discovery. An expanded view of the universe european southern observatory. Stonehenge and ancient astronomy stonehenge did not exist in isolation, but within a landscape filled with people. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution.
The plain, blue image you see here disguises all the interesting things we have learned about the planet. Later authors speak of a manual of nautical astronomy made by. His landmark text, the constellations of the fixed stars, corrected many mistakes made by ptolemy, especially in documenting the order of magnitude of stars, and. The sun, moon, stars and planets all appear to slowly rise in the east and set in the west each day because the earth rotates once around its axis every 24 hours. Astronomy, the branch of science that studies outer space and the. There are literally hundreds of facts that we could go through, below we narrow it down to 10 major facts. Always update books hourly, if not looking, search in. Manikanta vizag, india our nearest black hole supermassive sagittarius a is 26,000 light years away, right in the middle of milky way galaxy.
The book begins with relevant scientific fundamentals and progresses through an exploration of the solar system, stars, galaxies and cosmology. In contemporary astronomy, a constellation is one of 88 regions of the sky that. All content from kiddle encyclopedia articles including the article images and facts can be freely used under attributionsharealike license, unless stated otherwise. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets. The sun and the planets, with the exception of venus and uranus, rotate on their. The heart and soul of the asps mission is connecting astronomy to people, connecting people to learning opportunities, and building bridges between teachers and students no matter what the classroom looks like. A course in astronomy is the beginning of a lifelong learning experience. Top 10 facts about astronomy on march 4, 1675, john flamsteed was appointed englands first astronomer royal. The ancient greeks observed that the stars revolved westward around the north celestial pole every twentythree hours and fiftysix.
Links to information about astronomy, the planets, and more. It is the study of everything outside the atmosphere of earth it studies celestial objects such as stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets and nebulae and processes such as supernovae explosions, gamma ray bursts, and cosmic microwave background radiation. Astronomy affects each of us personally with the new perspectives it offers. The objects studied include stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets and nebulae. Facts and information about the universe, galaxies, stars, solar system, and space exploration. Astronomy simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mar 04, 2016 top 10 facts about astronomy on march 4, 1675, john flamsteed was appointed englands first astronomer royal. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon but is 400 times further away from earth, making them appear the same size. The facts on file dictionary of astronomy, fifth edition contains more than 3,700 crossreferenced entries that explain, clearly and concisely, the most frequently used terms in astronomy. This cultural landscape developed over time, so that the prehistoric monuments we see today were built over a timespan of more than 2000 years, from the fourth millennium bc through to. Our universe is full of wonders, powerful forces and very interesting facts. The movement of the stars and planets has fascinated humans for thousands of years. A person who studies astronomy is called an astronomer. Plate with figures illustrating articles on astronomy, from the 1728 cyclopaedia mars surface map of giovanni schiaparelli.
The suns mass is 333,000 times the mass of the earth. Ancient people used the positions of the stars to navigate, and to find. Facts concerning the solar system stony brook astronomy. Observational astronomy is an activity that amateur observers enjoy as a hobby and pastime and was the first type of astronomy humans did. A lot of astronomy people like to think of the solar system been made up in two parts we have the inner solar system which has mercury, venus, earth and not forgetting mars.
The facts on file dictionary of astronomy facts on file. Astronomers think that most of the stars in our galaxy may also have planets. The word astronomy comes from the greek words astron which means star and nomos which means law. Astronomy information for fun tim tasto 3172018 color version rev 1 first, it is important to state that most of what is contained in this paper is the result of numerous and enthusiastic questions asked by students during astronomy labs at the csbsju observatory. Most of our modern understanding of astronomy is based on the work of scientists from the city of babylon over 2000 years ago. On march 4, 1923, the astronomer patrick moore was born.
87 1392 497 1510 866 484 349 997 960 1420 1337 299 572 660 1253 990 346 515 236 731 219 1443 409 770 1498 37 142 182 899 567 1105 1441 1216 916 1268 542 170