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Whether you are studying backyard stargazing or
exploring the possibility of becoming a professional astronomer, Astronomy Education at
Free-Ed.Net can get you started and help sustain your passion for a
lifetime.
 Astronomy is the science of celestial
objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's
atmosphere. It is concerned with the evolution, physics,
chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as
well as the formation and development of the universe.
This discipline includes the examination,
study and modeling of stars, planets, comets, galaxies and
the cosmos. Most of the information used by astronomers is
gathered by remote observation, although some laboratory
reproduction of celestial phenomenon has been performed
(such as the molecular chemistry of the interstellar
medium).
While the origins of the study of
celestial features and phenomenon can be traced back to
antiquity, the scientific methodology of this field began to
develop in the middle of the 17th century. A key factor was
Galileo's introduction of the telescope to examine the night
sky in more detail.
The mathematical treatment of astronomy
began with Newton's development of celestial mechanics and
the laws of gravitation, although it was triggered by
earlier work of astronomers such as Kepler. By the 19th
century, astronomy had developed into a formal science, with
the introduction of instruments such as the spectroscope and
photography, along with much-improved telescopes and the
creation of professional observatories.
Derived from Wikipedia
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