Astronomy As a Natural Science - Essay Example

Astronomy Astronomy is ified as a natural science that included the study of celestial objects such as stars, moon, planets, galaxies and nebulae. In addition, it also deals with the physics, chemistry, and the objects evolution, and phenomena that originate outside the earth’s atmosphere. Astronomy is among the oldest science. Astronomical artifacts including the Egyptian monument have been lefty by the prehistoric cultures to performed night sky observation (Renner et al., pg. 617). Astrometry is the term used to refer to the most ancient form of astronomy. It includes the measure of the moon, planets and sun. There are calculations that are linked to the motions that allow the astronomers to model planets’ and star’s birth and evolution. In addition, it is useful in coming up with predictions of events such as meteor showers, eclipses and comets appearances. Another related but more complex subject is cosmology that encompasses study of the universe as a whole. Such prehistoric cultures include the Nubian and Egyptian monuments and other early civilizations such as the Iranians, Maya, Chinese, Greeks, Babylonians and the Indians. There was the need to invent the telescope before astronomy made it into the modern science. Astronomy has historically included disciplines ranging from astrometry, observational astronomy, celestial navigation and making of calendars (Trumper, pg. 11). Currently, astronomy is considered synonymous with astrophysics. In the twentieth century, astronomy split into theoretical and observational branches. Observation astronomy focus on acquiring data from various observations of astronomical objects that is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. On the other hand, theoretical astronomy is oriented towards computer development or analytical models that describe the astronomical phenomena and objects (Renner et al., pg. 618). Thomas Harriot was the first person, four centuries ago, to look as a celestial object using a microscope. He used his simple Dutch trunke telescope to view the moon in the late 1600’s and made drawings of the observations (Basu and Matzner, N. p. 115). Thomas was operation within the same time as Galileo and actually, Thomas did his observation before Galileo. Both Galileo and Thomas were astronomers. They spent time in studying celestial bodies more so the moon. They both developed interest in studying the lunar. Unlike Galileo, Harriot did not publish his observational drawing though he was able to share his telescopic findings with a group of English correspondents. They both drew “moon maps” and they believed to be the geographical surface of the moon to be (Hyslop, pg. 293). The type of moon maps in this case are well illustrated in some literature writings such as in the School of Night where a letter is missing and the search result to the discovery of buried gold and coded maps (Bayard, 2010). This book was written in the 16th century. These coded maps are actually some of the drawings by Thomas and Galileo. Early astronomers claimed to notice various patterns in the sky and made attempts to organize then in order to predict and tract their way of motion. These patterns were known as constellations. The patterns assisted the ancient people to measure and know seasons. There is evidence of people tracking the movement of stars all over the world but more prevalent in Egypt, Greece, china, America, India and Mesopotamia. The image of an astronomer appears to be a lone soul at a telescope within all the night hours. Since the invention of photography, digital photography to be specific in the early 1970’s, astronomers have brought in amazing space pictures that have a lot of information to both science and the public (Renner et al., pg. 618- 619). Unlike other scientific fields, astronomers are not able to observe a system entirely from birth to death; life of stars, galaxies ad world span millions of years. Astronomers must then rely on snapshots of carious bodies in different stages of evolution in order to determine how they were formed, how they evolved and their death, Observational and observational astronomy tend to work together since the scientists use the information that they collect to for creation of simulation and observations serve to confirm these models (Trumper, pg. 14). Astronomy is a distinct science that gives amateurs field to play an active role particularly in the observation and discovery of transient phenomena (Hyslop, pg. 305). Any amateurs have contributed to significant astronomical discoveries. Astronomy has three main subfields that allow scientists to specialize in particular phenomena and objects. They include planetary astronomers, galactic astronomers and cosmologists. Planetary astronomers for example put their focus on the evolution, growth and death of the planets. The solar astronomers focus on analyzing a single specified star or the sun. On the other hand, stellar astronomers focus on stars that include nebulae, black holes, supernova and white dwarfs that survive stellar earth. Galactic astronomers try to study and analyze our galaxy, commonly known as the Milky Way while the extragalactic astronomers go beyond this study to find out how these star collections form, evolve and die. Cosmologists have been known to put their focus and efforts on the universe and study its life from birth in the big bang through its present evolution and eventually its death. Astronomy is not always concerned about very concrete, things that can be observed, whereas cosmology revolves around the large scale properties of the esoteric and universe that is invisible and purely includes theoretical things such as dark matter, dark energy and string theory (Trumper, pg. 14). Astronomers will always rely on varying wavelengths that are associated with electromagnetic spectrum to study the span of the things in the universe. These electromagnetic spectrum range from radio waves through to visible light and further on to the gamma rays and X-rays. The first telescope to be used focused on simple research related to optical studies of what could be viewed with the naked eye. As light waves vary in level of energy they tend to increase or reduce their speed depending on the energy. Different telescopes are significant in the study of various wavelengths. With shorter wavelengths, more energetic radiation appears in a ultra violet form, x-ray, and wavelengths linked to gamma rays while the objects will low level of energy emit longer wavelengths radio waves and infrared (Hyslop, pg. 298). A German, Hans Lippershy, created the first instrument that helped man view far away things (Schneider, N. p). A year later, Galileo Galilei, who was an Italian astronomer, made drastic modification to the design, which made production of images to be much clearer and larger t the eyes of the person observing. Galileo’s telescope was able to change the distance being viewed through the instrument by addition of other variable lenses. This allowed one to see an image three times bigger than what could be with naked eyes. Galileo’s telescope helped in revealing the phases of Venus, and this was a striking moment to the explanation of the heliocentric theory (Basu and Matzner, N. p. 114). Galileo Galilei Is considered a pivotal figure when it comes to the topic of modern astronomy development. His contributions were focused to astronomy and were based on physics. He came up with the crucial observations that concluded on the Copernican hypothesis and further laid the foundations to help understand how objects were able to move on the earth’s surface and of gravity (Basu and Matzner, N. p. 116). Galileo did not actually invent the telescope but was the first person on Earth to study the heavens. He used a little telescope that was not well equipped but his conclusions on the observations he made geared the foundations of Aristotle’s universe and the philosophical world view that it supported. Galileo caused many doubts in the churches who went to an extent of not even trying to use his telescope. They said that the devil had powers to make things appear through the telescope. Galileo used his telescope to observe the sum and identified dark patches currently referred to as sunspots in modern science. He however went blind as a result of damage due to viewing the sun using the telescope. He also observed motions of the dark patches that revealed that the sun was rotation within its own axis. In addition, Galileo observed four points of light that seemed to change positions within time around planet Jupiter. He came to a conclusion that there were objects around Jupiter (Trumper, pg. 15). The school of night was formed in the late sixteenth century by individual of greatest minds. They took time to analyze and debate on various topics relating to science, God, politics and alchemy regardless of a threat of imprisonment. Galilei and Harriot were among these great minds that were in the debate. Harriot has made three drawings of the moon just four months before Galileo made efforts through his telescope to observe the moon. He later resumed his observations after the discoveries by Galileo and produced the first map of the moon. In the school of night, there is a story of Harriot’s alchemy experiments and moreover some growing relationship with Margaret who ends up to be his wife. This relates to the letter from Ralegh. Harriot came to known as the England Galileo since he pondered the universe through his modest home on his ally’s estate (Bayard, 2010). Works cited Basu, Dipak, and Richard A. Matzner. Dictionary Of Geophysics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy. N. P., 2001. Bayard, Louis. The School of Night: A Novel. New York: Henry Holt and Co, 2010. Print. Hyslop, Scott. “Thomas Harriot and His World: Mathematics, Exploration, and Natural Philosophy in Early Modern England Edited by Robert Fox.” aestimatio 10 (2013): 293–313. Print. Renner, S et al. “Astronomy & Astrophysics.” Astronomy 620 (2005): 617–620. Schneider, Peter. Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology: An Introduction. N. p., 2006. Trumper, Ricardo. “University Students’ Conceptions of Basic Astronomy Concepts.” Physics Education 2000 : 9–15.  Read More