Portal:Astronomy
Astronomy portal
Astronomy (from Greek: ἀστρονομία) is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets; the phenomena also includes supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, all phenomena that originate outside Earth's atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy. A branch of astronomy called cosmology is the study of the Universe as a whole.
Astronomy is one of the oldest of the natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history, such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Nubians, Iranians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas, performed methodical observations of the night sky. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars, but professional astronomy is now often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics.
Professional astronomy is split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects, which is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented toward the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain observational results and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.
Astronomy is one of the few sciences in which amateurs still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient events. Amateur astronomers have made and contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, such as finding new comets.
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Triton is one of the few moons in the Solar System known to be geologically active. As a consequence, its surface is relatively young, with a complex geological history revealed in intricate and mysterious cryovolcanic and tectonic terrains. Part of its crust is dotted with geysers believed to erupt nitrogen.
The moon was discovered by British astronomer William Lassell just 17 days after Neptune itself was discovered by German astronomers Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, who were following co-ordinates given them by French astronomer and mathematician Urbain Le Verrier.
Did you know...
- ... that the Lyman-alpha blob 1 is a blob of gas 300,000 light-years across located some 11.5 billion light-years from Earth?
- ... that 51 Ophiuchi has a disk of dust and gas that is likely a planetary system in the late stages of formation?
- ... that the Magellan Planet Search Program has discovered five eccentric Jupiter-mass extra-solar planets since the program started gathering data in December 2002?
- ... that asteroids with two moons, like 1994 CC, comprise only 1% of the near-Earth objects?
- ... that pictures by amateur astrophotographer Steve Mandel help to explore faint nebulae of the Milky Way?
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Projects
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NGC 1300 is a barred spiral galaxy about 61 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The galaxy is about 110,000 light-years across; just slightly larger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
June anniversaries
- 24 June 2004 - First private spaceflight, SpaceShipOne piloted by Mike Melvill.
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Wikibooks
These books may be in various stages of development. See also the related Science and Mathematics bookshelves.
- Astronomy
- GAT: A Glossary of Astronomical Terms
- Introduction to Astrophysics
- General relativity
- Observing the Sky from 30°S
- Observing the Sky from 40°N
Wikijunior
Astronomical events
All times UT unless otherwise specified.
| 3 June, 10:02 | New moon |
| 7 June, 23:07 | Moon at perigee |
| 8 June, 00:00 | Arietids peak |
| 10 June, 15:28 | Jupiter at opposition |
| 15 June, 15:15 | Moon occults Ceres |
| 17 June, 08:31 | Full moon |
| 19 June, 03:46 | Moon occults Saturn |
| 19 June, 11:16 | Moon occults Pluto |
| 21 June, 15:54 | Earth northern solstice |
| 23 June, 07:46 | Moon at apogee |
| 23 June, 23:18 | Mercury at greatest eastern elongation |
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Basics
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