Astronomy

Article

Astronomy is the natural science that studies celestial objects, phenomena, and the universe beyond Earth. It examines stars, planets, moons, comets, galaxies, nebulae, black holes, radiation, and the large-scale structure and history of the cosmos.

Astronomers use observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, together with measurements of particles, gravitational waves, and spacecraft data. Telescopes on the ground and in space provide information about brightness, spectra, motion, distance, composition, and magnetic fields.

The field includes planetary science, stellar astronomy, galactic astronomy, cosmology, astrobiology, and celestial mechanics. Many astronomical phenomena are cyclic, including rotations, orbits, eclipses, stellar pulsations, solar activity, and long-term changes in orbital orientation.

Modern astronomy combines physics, mathematics, chemistry, geology, computing, statistics, and engineering. Because light travels at a finite speed, observations of distant objects also reveal the universe at earlier stages of its history.

Source details and credits

• Source / publisher: Wikipedia
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Wikipedia
• URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy