Research on Astronomy

Table of Contents

Introduction

Main Body

Conclusion

Research on Astronomy

Introduction

There are more things in

Heaven and Earth , Horatio

than are dreamt of in your philosophy

Hamlet

Astronomy is the study of the space beyond the Earth and its inhabitants phenomena in the Earth 's upper layers of the atmosphere that have their origin in space are also included . Before the use of the telescope in astronomy in the beginning of the 17th century , astronomy was related merely to measuring the positions and movements of

heavenly bodies , a branch now called astrometry (Astrometry .org . The discovery in the 17th century that gravitation controlled the movements of heavenly bodies led to mathematical methods for determining orbits , now called celestial mechanics . In the nineteenth century the application of spectrometers and spectroscopes and analysis of spectra , with help of which the composition of bodies could be determined by examining their light , laid the foundation for astrophysics . The discovery in the twentieth century that galaxies exist outside Milky Way and the discovery of the expansion of the Universe laid the foundation for modern cosmology that studies the origin and evolution of the Universe (Wikipedia

The roots of modern astronomy first emerged from the mists of the prehistoric period in the 3rd and 2nd millennia before Christ , in the very complex cultures that formed in Egypt and Babylon . In Egypt the effectual administering of a spacious kingdom depended upon a well-organized astronomical calendar . At the same time , rituals called for the ability to tell the time at night and orientate tombstones - pyramids - in the main directions . In Babylon the safety of the throne , and therefore of the land and people that lived there , depended upon the correct reading of signs , including those observed in the sky

It was Islam that made specific demands upon the studies of astronomers The month began with the new moon - not when Sun , Moon , and Earth were placed in a line , but two or three days later , when the crescent was seen by human eyes . The periods of time of prayer were determined by the altitude of the Sun as it passed the sky . Consequently , the need to fix these hours correctly led to the establishment of the office mosque timekeeper . This institution gave astronomers a trustworthy and honourable position in the community . And the need to determine the local direction of Mecca , the qibla , that guided the position of mosques and graveyards and much else , posed a stimulating problem that astronomers tried to solve

Copernicus 's claim that the Earth is in motion had posed a whole range of problems for astronomers . What forces move the Earth ? How is it that people have no perception of constant movement ? How is it that arrows fired vertically towards a higher level fall to the ground at the place from which they were fired ? If people observe the stars as people orbit every six months from one side of the Sun to the other , why can people not see in them...