Astronomy

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and bodies and exoatmospheric phenomena like cosmic background radiation, solar waves, gamma rays originating from distant planets, etc. Astronomy deals with the position, size, physics, composition, energy, evolution and motion of celestial objects and also encompasses the birth and development of the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences and throughout history empires and civilisations have used the positions of stars and planets for time-keeping, navigation, making of calendars, astrometry, etc. The progression of astronomy into a modern science took place largely after the invention of the telescope.

Observational and theoretical astronomy are the two divisions of professional astronomy. Observational astronomy deals with acquisition and analysis of astronomical data by means of basic physics principles. Theoretical astronomy involves development of computer and paper models to describe astronomical objects and phenomenon. Amateur astronomers, people who indulge in “sky watching” as a hobby, have often made significant contributions to the field of astronomy, especially so in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena. Some of the fields in observational astronomy are radio astronomy, infrared astronomy, optical astronomy, ultraviolet astronomy, x-ray astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, astrometry and also fields of observational astronomy not based on the electromagnetic spectrum like neutrino astronomy, cosmic ray astronomy, etc.

Books, binoculars, pictures, clubs, telescopes and other equipment and gear for astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology can be found across the internet.