Astronomy for Beginners - Complete GuideAstronomy began tens of thousands of years ago and has thrilled mankind throughout the ages with the many wonders to be seen in the heavens.
This article is part of a series of articles. Please use the links below to navigate between the articles.
- Astronomy for Beginners - Complete Guide
- What are Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (Dec)?
- What is Angular Size in Astronomy?
- Magnitude Scale and Distance Modulus in Astronomy
- Sidereal Time, Civil Time and Solar Time
- What Are The Equinoxes and Solstices About?
- How Do We Measure Distance in Space Using Parallax and Parsecs
- Brightness, Luminosity and Flux of Stars Explained
- Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion Explained
- What Are Lagrange Points?
- List of Astronomy Equations with Workings
- Glossary of Astronomy & Photographic Terms
- Astronomical Constants - Useful Constants for Astronomy
Astronomy is an endlessly fascinating field, the oldest of the natural sciences, and one of the few areas of science where amateurs can assist professionals and contribute to science. In this Introduction to Astronomy tutorial, I will cover the basics of modern astronomy as a science, including the structure and evolution of planets, stars, galaxies, and the Universe as a whole. We will look at observational astronomy, the magnitude scale, spectroscopy and celestial mechanics.
What is Astronomy?
Astronomy as a science began tens of thousands of years ago by tracking the motion of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. It has since developed into a sophisticated study of the fundamental laws of nature governing these phenomena.
The first observations of the heavens were conducted by our early human ancestors. Historical records of astronomical measurements date back as far as Mesopotamia nearly 5000 years ago, with later observations made by the ancient Chinese, Babylonians, and Greeks.
Astronomy is more than simply a mapping of stars and planets into outlines of gods and magical creatures. It is the scientific study of the contents of the entire Universe, stars, planets, comets, asteroids, galaxies, and space and time, as well as its history.
In the Age of Antiquity, astronomy was the main occupation of astronomers. There was some degree of interest in astronomy from the public as well since they believed that the positions of celestial objects influenced events that took place on Earth. Astrology, which is the art of predicting future events based on such observations, was considered a branch and formed an integral part of the astronomer's work for several centuries.
Branches of Astronomy
There are two main branches of astronomy - optical, the study of celestial objects in the visible band, and non-optical, the use of instruments to study objects in the radio through gamma-ray wavelengths. Non-optical is sorted into wavelength ranges, such as infrared astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, radio astronomy, and so on.
Within these branches, there are many sub-branches. These include solar, planetary, stellar, galactic, and cosmology to name a few.
Meet a Few Pioneers of the Science
Over the centuries there have been countless innovators, people who contributed to the development and advancement of science. Today there are more than 11,000 trained astronomers in the world dedicated to the study of the cosmos.
Where to Start in Astronomy
If you're starting by simply looking at the sky at night, I have an excellent observational astronomy tutorial series that takes you through what you can see at night, how to observe targets, telescope selection as well as some equipment advice.
In the first tutorial of this series, we will look at the celestial sphere and how we locate objects in the sky.
Amateur astronomers also play an important role in research. The most serious amateurs actively participate in the study of variable stars, the discovery of new asteroids or comets, and other exciting astronomical work.
