Curious about Astronomy?

 

 

Ask the Astronomer!

Since they first stepped out of the proverbial cave, people have always been intrigued by the beauty and wonder of the night sky and the almost infinite possibilies of space. Indeed, astronomy is both the closest and the most distant science from common experience. Every curious person who gazes at the night sky becomes an astronomer, and yet the things that we can see in outer space are wholly outside our Earthbound experience. That is why astronomy is both the oldest and the youngest science of them all. Oldest because almost every ancient culture, understanding the need to predict the coming of the seasons, became expert at tracking and predicting the motions of the sun, moon, and planets. Many of the prehistoric monuments that still exist today are aligned in some astronomical direction or another. The Egyptian Pyramids, Stonehenge, and a panapoly of Native American, Mayan, and Aztec temples all are complex astronomical observatories designed for direction-finding or the prediction of the planets and seasons. And yet astronomy is a young science, too. Only in the last century or so have we truly come to understand the size and age of the universe we live in; only in the last fifty or sixty years or so have we truly begun to understand the physics which drives the universe and makes exotic objects like black holes, neutron stars, and a menagerie of other astronomical oddities possible. And finally, only in the last few years have we been able to find planets in orbit around other stars and the real possibility of life beyond the Earth.

It's no surprise, then, that students, writers of fiction, and nonscientists in general are so interested in this particular scientific endeavor. That's why we, as astronomers are so anxious to "get the word out," as they say. And that's the purpose of this site.

If you use one of my answers in a class, research project, article, etc., I do ask that this page and/or the author of your answer be properly cited as a source for your information.

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