Professional astronomy is split intoobservational andtheoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects. This data 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. These two fields complement each other. Theoretical astronomy seeks to explain observational results and observations are used to confirm theoretical results.
Astronomy is one of the few sciences in which amateurs play anactive role. This is especially true for the discovery and observation oftransient events.Amateur astronomers have helped with many important discoveries, such as finding new comets. (Full article...)
The following are images from various astronomy-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1An image of theCat's Paw Nebula created combining the work of professional and amateur astronomers. The image is the combination of the 2.2-metre MPG/ESO telescope of the La Silla Observatory in Chile and a 0.4-meter amateur telescope. (fromAmateur astronomy)
Image 7An amateur astrophotography setup with an automated guide system connected to a laptop (fromObservational astronomy)
Image 8Artist conception of theBig Bang cosmological model, the most widely accepted out of all in physical cosmology (neither time nor size to scale) (fromPhysical cosmology)
Image 10Segment of theastronomical ceiling of Senenmut's Tomb (circa 1479–1458 BC), depicting constellations, protective deities, and twenty-four segmented wheels for the hours of the day and the months of the year (fromHistory of astronomy)
Image 14The main platform atLa Silla hosts a huge range of telescopes with which astronomers can explore the Universe. (fromObservational astronomy)
Image 15Comparison ofCMB (Cosmic microwave background) results from satellitesCOBE,WMAP andPlanck documenting a progress in 1989–2013 (fromHistory of astronomy)
Image 16Amateur astronomy groups are often involved in outreach to introduce astronomy to the general public (fromAmateur astronomy)
Image 17Places likeParanal Observatory offer crystal clear skies for observing astronomical objects with or without instruments. (fromAmateur astronomy)
Image 18An example of a gravitational lens found in the DESI Legacy Surveys data. There are four sets of lensed images in DESI-090.9854-35.9683, corresponding to four distinct background galaxies—from the outermost giant red arc to the innermost bright blue arc, arranged in four concentric circles. All of them are gravitationally warped—or lensed—by the orange galaxy at the very center. Dark matter is expected to produce gravitational lensing also. (fromPhysical cosmology)
Image 22The inflationary theory as an augmentation to the Big Bang theory was first proposed by Alan Guth of MIT. Inflation solves the 'horizon problem' by making the early universe much more compact than was assumed in the standard model. Given such smaller size, causal contact (i.e., thermal communication) would have been possible among all regions of the early universe. The image was an adaptation from various generic charts depicting the growth of the size of the observable universe, for both the standard model and inflationary model respectively, of the Big Bang theory. (fromPhysical cosmology)
Image 26Portrait of the Flemish astronomerFerdinand Verbiest who became head of the Mathematical Board and director of the Observatory of the Chinese emperor in 1669 (fromAstronomer)
Image 31ALMA is the world's most powerful telescope for studying the Universe at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths. (fromObservational astronomy)
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The definition of the termplanet has changed several times since the word was coined by theancient Greeks.Greek astronomers employed the termἀστέρες πλανῆται (asteres planetai), 'wandering stars', for star-like objects which apparently moved over the sky. Over the millennia, the term has included a variety of different celestial bodies, from theSun and theMoon tosatellites andasteroids.
In modern astronomy, there are two primary conceptions of aplanet. Aplanet can be anastronomical object thatdynamically dominates its region (that is, whether it controls the fate of other smaller bodies in its vicinity) or it is defined to be inhydrostatic equilibrium (it has become gravitationally rounded and compacted). These may be characterized asthe dynamical dominance definition andthe geophysical definition. (Full article...)
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