What is Astronomy?

[Vijay]

Dear friends,
This is brief information about
astronomy............

ASTRONOMY:
Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον), "star" and -nomy from
nomos (νόμος), "law") is the scientific study of celestial objects
(such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that
originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic
background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics,
chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as
the formation and development of the universe.

Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Astronomers of early
civilizations performed methodical observations of the night sky, and
astronomical artifacts have been found from much earlier periods.
However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy
was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has
included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation,
observational astronomy, the making of calendars, and even astrology,
but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be
synonymous with astrophysics.

Since the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into
observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is
focused on acquiring and analyzing data, mainly using basic principles
of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards 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 the observational results, and
observations being used to confirm theoretical results.

Amateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical
discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs
can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and
observation of transient phenomena.

Thank you..........