Astronomy can be easily defined as the study of everything in the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.Astronomy is seen as one of the most intriguing fields of research because of the plethora of possibilities found in the universe. This includes the study of the Moon, Sun, stars, and various planets.The field also includes the studies of tiny particles, faraway galaxies, and black holes. Astronomy is sometimes confused with Astrology, which is the study of how the alignments of planets and stars affect people’s daily lives. Astronomy is one of the oldest studied subjects, and its origins can be dated back to early civilizations like the Chinese and the Babylonians. With the progression of modern science in astronomy, countries have invested in developing their studies of the cosmos. As each year passes, the more we learn about how the universe functions and how the big bang shaped our galaxy.If you like this article about Astronomy facts, be sure to check out articles about the Apollo 13 space mission and all-female spacewalk too!The History Of The International Space StationThe Internation Space Station (ISS) was built for more than ten years, and it took over 30 missions to assemble the space station. The station is the result of collaborated efforts of engineers and scientists from 15 countries and five space agencies. The ISS orbits 250 mi (402 km) above Earth and weighs around 460 tons (417,205 kg).The first introductory space station was created in 1969 when two Russian Soyuz vehicles were linked in space. Construction of the ISS began in 1988, and it was followed by the invention of the American shuttles, the first reusable spacecraft.The gravity in ISS is only 10-11% weaker than the gravity on Earth’s surface.Astronomy MajorAstronomy students learn about the theories behind how the universe works and how it has evolved alongside the origins of space and the solar system in general.Astronomy and Astrophysics are offered as two distinct subjects, and both serve as foundations to learn graduate and research level work. Astronomy is much more flexible as students can go into journalism, education, medicine, or the law. In contrast, astrophysics majors aim towards a career path specifically catering to physics or astronomy.The Scope Of AstronomyThe scope of astronomy has helped humans learn more about the universe and, in turn, learn new and amusing facts about our solar system and the universe. Here are some amazing facts about what astronomy has taught the world about the universe!The Ancient Greeks developed astronomy! Astronomy was seen as a branch of mathematics. However, with the rise of influential personalities like Aristotle and Plato, astronomy was used more to learn about how the universe functioned.Tycho Brahe is credited with creating advancements in astronomy by making accurate observations of the planets and stars. In 1572, his study on the Supernova SN 1572 showed that the star was further away from the Moon and was etched into an unchanging and perfect universe. He proposed a theory regarding the solar system, which combined the Sun-centered Copernican system and the Earth-centred Ptolemaic system to create a theory that all the other planets in the solar system revolved around the Sun and the Sun revolved around Earth.Our universe is estimated to be around 13.8 billion years old! Scientists estimate that the Sun will expand and become a red giant after 5 billion years. The Sun will also engulf and swallow up the Earth in 7.5 billion years.The other galaxies in the universe that are visible to us are moving away from us! Some of these galaxies are a million light-years away.Neutron stars are remnants of massive stars in supernova explosions. Neutron stars are known to be among some of the fastest-spinning elements in outer space, with over 500 spins per second.Gamma-ray bursts are formed when massive stars implode, with some even forming when neutron stars combine to form one large star. Gamma-ray bursts emit more energy in 10 seconds than whatever energy the Sun will produce in its lifetime.The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most important scientific inventions ever in the field of astronomy! The telescope was named after American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble who confirmed the universe’s continuous expansion had been used by astronomers globally, and around 15,000 scientific papers have been written based on the findings through the Hubble Space Telescope. It has helped us learn more about our Milky Way galaxy and other galaxies and universes. On average, the Hubble Telescope weighs as same as a large school bus.Microbial life can be found on various planets in the solar system. These microbes are usually found living in frozen environments or volcanic vents underwater. With the presence of several icy moons in the solar system, it is assumed that microbes exist on various other planets. It is believed that Europa (Jupiter’s Moon) and Enceladus (Saturn’s Moon) have microbes living under the oceans and underneath the ice, respectively.Earth’s oceans are not that unique! Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede, the three moons of Jupiter, alongside Enceladus and Titan, the two moons of Saturn are believed to have underwater seas. The most water ever found actually envelopes a black hole around 12 billion light-years away!An estimated 200 billion ‘rogue’ stars are free-floating in the galaxy without a parent star! Some of them have been kicked out of the solar system, and some planets are independently formed from cold, tiny clouds called globulettes.Since its discovery in 1846, Neptune has completed only one orbit around the Sun, which occurred in 2010! The planet takes around 165 Earth years to complete one rotation. Neptune’s next revolution will be in the year 2179. On the other hand, Pluto takes approximately 248 Earth years to complete one revolution around the Sun.Even with the absence of water, Mars is red, hence the name Red Planet. The reddish hue on the planet’s surface is usually a result of rust made from iron and water, but in the case of Mars, it is theorized that the reddish hue is a result of iron oxide and that the planet did have water at some stage.The Andromeda galaxy is 2.3 million light-years away from Earth, meaning that the galaxy we now see is an image from 2.3 million years ago! The Andromeda galaxy is also simultaneously the most distant thing that can be spotted with the naked eye.Our North Star, Polaris, will be replaced by Vega in the night sky after around 12,000 years. This is caused by Earth’s axis changing over a long 26,000-year cycle, which will end with the north shifting to different stars.The Milky Way, where our very own solar system exists, is one of the 100 million galaxies in the universe! The Sun is among the 200 billion stars located in the Milky Way galaxy, and the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is millions of times larger than the Sun’s mass.Black holes have a polar opposite in the form of white holes! Instead of trapping it like black holes, these holes spit out matter and light. However, the existence of white holes is something of guesswork as there is no agreement about them being real or how they are formed.A star’s color depends on the surface temperature, determined by its mass and age. Nebula, Red Giant, White Dwarf, Neutron Star, Supernova, and Black Holes are some of the names of stars.Determining Astronomical DistancesIn the third century BC, Aristarchus of Samos was the first person who estimated the size and distance of the Sun and the Moon. Aristarchus also created the Astrolabe, a tool used to decipher problems in relation to the positions of the Sun and the stars and time.Today, astronomers calculate the distance of objects in space using a method known as trigonometric parallax or stellar parallax. This method is used to measure the movement of a star against the backdrop of even more distant stars as the planet Earth keeps revolving around the Sun.The distances in the universes are so massive that they are measured on a big scale, and the unit light-year (distance light can travel in a year) is used. Light travels at a speed of 6 trillion MPS (9.5 trillion kps).Being An AstronomerThere are various careers in astronomy, which include cosmologists, astrobiologists, geologists, and telescope design engineers! Astronomers work in observational astronomy and use cameras and telescopes to learn more about galaxies and stars. Theoretical astronomy uses computer models and maths to explain predictions and observations and how the galaxy was formed, the origins of cosmic rays, and the evolution of the universe.Astronomers are always looking for new things and usually focus on dark matter. Dark matter makes up around 68% of the universe, and when you look at the night sky, you can see a tiny fraction of the endless universe present in the sky.Did You Know?Venus is the planet with the hottest surface temperature because of the high density of the greenhouse effect in its atmosphere.Rocks from the planet Mars can be found on Earth! There have been around 100 meteorites found that came from Mars, and most of these are assumed to have been blasted towards Earth because of the asteroid belt colliding with Mars.The Moon is often visible during the daytime because its position above the horizon coincides with the position of the Sun. The only time it is not visible during the daytime is when the Moon’s position is that of a ’new’ moon as the bright side of the Moon is facing away from our planet.Stars twinkled only after their light makes its way through Earth’s atmosphere.In 2006, The International Astronomical Union (IAU) removed Pluto from the list of full-sized planets and classified it as a dwarf planet.Surface tension causes the free-flowing liquid to change into a spherical form in outer space. This phenomenon can be observed quite well in the low orbit of Earth.The particles in the upper atmosphere of the Sun are so hot that they dash into outer space in the form of solar winds. The Sun loses around 2.2 billion lb (1 billion kg) of matter in one second!At least 68% of the universe is made up of dark energy, and a further 27% is made up of dark matter. Both are invisible even with the use of telescopes, meaning that we can only see 5% of the universe.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for astronomy facts, then why not take a look at ten facts about space or the 1961 space chimp name?
Astronomy can be easily defined as the study of everything in the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
