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Astronomy 𓆩⚪𓆪｜Definition｜1st｜20251119205401-00-⌔
Astronomy
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Nine images relating to astronomy.1
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, meteoroids, asteroids, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Cosmology is the branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole.
Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the past, astronomy included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars.
Astronomy is one of the few sciences in which amateurs play an active role. This is especially true for the discovery and observation of transient events. Amateur astronomers have helped with many important discoveries, such as finding new comets.
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Below is the list of the images present in the collage and their respective astronomy discipline(s), rightwards across the rows: Planetary science Titan passing in front of Saturn in a natural‑colour mosaic from the Cassini spacecraft, showing atmospheric seasonal changes and the shadow of Saturn’s rings. Stellar astronomy the star BD−08 1203 imaged by the Euclid Space Telescope, part of a deep stellar field used for photometric and astrometric studies. Solar physics a photograph of the 1999 total solar eclipse in France, revealing the solar corona during totality. Observational astronomy & Galactic astronomy the VLT at Paranal Observatory projecting a laser guide star into the mesosphere to enable adaptive optics observations of the Galactic Center. Astrophysics the first direct image of the supermassive black hole M87﹡ from the Event Horizon Telescope, showing the photon ring surrounding its shadow. Extragalactic astronomy interacting spiral galaxies UGC 9618 (also known as VV 340/Arp 302), imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, illustrating early‑stage galactic merging. Cosmology & Computational astronomy a frame from the CLUES project, depicting the large‑scale cosmic web of filaments, clusters and voids in the Universe. Astrochemistry the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex imaged by the JWST (NIRCam), showing jets from young stars, molecular hydrogen emission, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Astrobiology an EVA by astronaut Edward H. White II during Gemini 4, illustrating human presence in the outermost region of Earth’s biosphere and the study of life in space environments.
These are just some of the many branches of astronomy. Others include (but are not limited to): high‑energy astrophysics, astroparticle physics, planetary geology, helioseismology, neutrino astronomy, astrostatistics and more. Also, there is often much overlap between the fields of astronomy, making the examples listed mostly conceptual and meant for conveying the focus of each mentioned. ↩
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