Portal:Astronomy
Introduction
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, meteoroids, asteroids, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is the branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole.
Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the past, astronomy included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars.
Professional astronomy is split into observational and theoretical 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 an active role. This is especially true for the discovery and observation of transient events. Amateur astronomers have helped with many important discoveries, such as finding new comets. (Full article...)
General images -
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Artist conception of the Big Bang cosmological model, the most widely accepted out of all in physical cosmology (neither time nor size to scale) (from Physical cosmology) -
Map of the Milky Way Galaxy, with the constellations that cross the galactic plane in each direction and the known prominent components annotated including main arms, spurs, bar, nucleus/bulge, notable nebulae and globular clusters (from History of astronomy) -
Portrait of the Flemish astronomer Ferdinand Verbiest who became head of the Mathematical Board and director of the Observatory of the Chinese emperor in 1669 (from Astronomer) -
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Amateur astronomer recording observations of the sun. (from Amateur astronomy) -
The Crab Nebula as seen in various wavelengths (from Observational astronomy) -
The Hubble Space Telescope (from History of astronomy) -
ALMA is the world's most powerful telescope for studying the Universe at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths. (from Observational astronomy) -
An image of the Cat'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. (from Amateur astronomy) -
A map of the northern celestial hemisphere from Johann Bayer's 1661 edition of Uranometria, the first atlas to feature star charts covering the entire celestial sphere (from History of astronomy) -
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Sir Patrick Moore was one of the world's leading popularisers of astronomy. (from Amateur astronomy) -
Ultra HD photography taken at La Silla Observatory (from Observational astronomy) -
50 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory (from Observational astronomy) -
The Nebra sky disk, Germany, 1800–1600 BC (from History of astronomy) -
The main platform at La Silla hosts a huge range of telescopes with which astronomers can explore the Universe. (from Observational astronomy) -
Places like Paranal Observatory offer crystal clear skies for observing astronomical objects with or without instruments. (from Amateur astronomy) -
A map of the southern celestial hemisphere, also by Bayer (from History of astronomy) -
Calendrical functions of the Berlin Gold Hat c. 1000 BC (from History of astronomy) -
An amateur astrophotography setup with an automated guide system connected to a laptop (from Observational astronomy) -
One of the Oldest Observatories in South America is the Quito Astronomical Observatory, founded in 1873 and located 12 minutes south of the Equator in Quito, Ecuador. The Quito Astronomical Observatory is the National Observatory of Ecuador and is located in the Historic Center of Quito and is managed by the National Polytechnic School. (from Observational astronomy) -
Babylonian tablet in the British Museum recording Halley's Comet in 164 BC (from History of astronomy) -
Arabic astrolabe from 1079 to 1080 AD (from History of astronomy) -
A voting session is conducted in 2006 International Astronomical Union's general assembly for determining a new definition of a planet (from Astronomer) -
9th-century diagram of the positions of the seven planets on 18 March 816, from the Leiden Aratea (from History of astronomy) -
Segment of the astronomical 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 (from History of astronomy) -
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Sunset at the equinox from the prehistoric site of Pizzo Vento at Fondachelli Fantina, Sicily (from History of astronomy) -
An 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. (from Physical cosmology) -
History of the Universe – gravitational waves are hypothesized to arise from cosmic inflation, a rapidly accelerated expansion just after the Big Bang (from Physical cosmology) -
The Oort cloud, one of the most successful theoretical models about the Solar System (from Theoretical astronomy) -
Amateur astronomy groups are often involved in outreach to introduce astronomy to the general public (from Amateur astronomy) -
The 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. (from Physical cosmology) -
Comparison of CMB (Cosmic microwave background) results from satellites COBE, WMAP and Planck documenting a progress in 1989–2013 (from History of astronomy) -
Overview of types of observational astronomy by observed wavelengths and their observability. (from Observational astronomy) -
Historical accuracy of atomic clocks from NIST. (from Theoretical astronomy)
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Featured article -
Zhang Heng (Chinese: 張衡; AD 78–139), courtesy name Pingzi, formerly romanized Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, he achieved success as an astronomer, mathematician, seismologist, hydraulic engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, artist, poet, philosopher, politician, and literary scholar.
Zhang Heng began his career as a minor civil servant in Nanyang. Eventually, he became Chief Astronomer, Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages, and then Palace Attendant at the imperial court. His uncompromising stance on historical and calendrical issues led to his becoming a controversial figure, preventing him from rising to the status of Grand Historian. His political rivalry with the palace eunuchs during the reign of Emperor Shun (r. 125–144) led to his decision to retire from the central court to serve as an administrator of Hejian Kingdom in present-day Hebei. Zhang returned home to Nanyang for a short time, before being recalled to serve in the capital once more in 138. He died there a year later, in 139. (Full article...)
Did you know -
- ... that Oscar Monnig donated one of the largest private collections of meteorites to Texas Christian University?
- ... that at first light in 1987, the William Herschel Telescope was the third largest single optical telescope in the world, and is still the second largest in Europe?
- ... that a Bok globule is a dark cloud of dense dust and gas, first observed by astronomer Bart Bok in the 1940s, in which star formation is taking place within the H II region?
- ... that the aerial telescope is a type of very long focal length refracting telescope built in the second half of the 17th century that did not use a tube?
- ... that the galaxy pair Arp 147 contains a ring of nine black holes?
More Did you know (auto generated)
- ... that Susan Murabana created Africa's first permanent planetarium?
- ... that a profile of artist Mark Hearld said his "wrens and squirrels, field mice and owls" help a child care about the planet better than telling them it is burning?
- ... that Na drugą planetę, published in 1895 as one of the earliest Polish science-fiction novels, was later criticized by communist-era censors for its perceived "adoration for America"?
- ... that two competing hypotheses seek to explain the unusual orbit of the exoplanet Nu Octantis Ab?
- ... that Michael Collins has been called "one of the best clarinettists walking the planet" by The Times?
- ... that the galaxy NGC 1700 has a rotating hot gas disk glowing in X-rays after merging with another galaxy three billion years ago?
WikiProjects
Selected image -
NGC 2371-2 is a dual lobed planetary nebula located in the constellation Gemini. At 13th magnitude, this nebula is well within the limits of most amateur telescopes.
Astronomy News
- 23 June 2025 –
- The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-meter (28 ft) telescope. (Scientific American)
November anniversaries
- 2 November 1917 – The Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, the largest telescope in the world from 1917 until 1948, sees first light
- 14 November 1971 – Unmanned probe Mariner 9 arrives at Mars and becomes the first spacecraft to orbit around another planet
- 18 November 1989 – Explorer 66, a satellite designed to study cosmic microwave background radiation and supply evidence in support of the Big Bang theory, is launched
- 20 November 1998 – Zarya, the first module of the International Space Station, is launched
- 28 November 1967 – PSR B1919+21 becomes the first pulsar to be observed when it is discovered by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish
Space-related Portals
Astronomical events
All times UT unless otherwise specified.
| 5 November, 12:36 | Southern Taurids peak |
| 5 November, 13:19 | Full moon |
| 5 November, 22:29 | Moon at perigee |
| 12 November, 11:52 | Northern Taurids peak |
| 17 November, 18:10 | Leonids peak |
| 20 November, 02:48 | Moon at apogee |
| 20 November, 08:47 | New moon |
| 20 November, 09:20 | Mercury at inferior conjunction |
| 21 November, 12:33 | Uranus at opposition |
| 29 November, 12:29 | Mars southward equinox |
Topics
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Subcategories
Things you can do
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Wikibooks
These books may be in various stages of development. See also the related Science and Mathematics bookshelves.
- Astronomy
- GAT: A Glossary of Astronomical Terms
- Introduction to Astrophysics
- General relativity
- Observing the Sky from 30°S
- Observing the Sky from 40°N
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