Portal:Astronomy

The Astronomy Portal

Introduction

Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order 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 a 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 - load new batch

The following are images from various astronomy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An 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)
Image 2Amateur astronomy groups are often involved in outreach to introduce astronomy to the general public (from Amateur astronomy)
Image 3A voting session is conducted in 2006 International Astronomical Union's general assembly for determining a new definition of a planet (from Astronomer)
Image 4Artist 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)
Image 5Historical accuracy of atomic clocks from NIST. (from Theoretical astronomy)
Image 6Arabic astrolabe from 1079 to 1080 AD (from History of astronomy)
Image 7Map 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)
Image 8Sir Patrick Moore was one of the world's leading popularisers of astronomy. (from Amateur astronomy)
Image 9"El Caracol" observatory temple at Chichen Itza, Mexico (from History of astronomy)
Image 10The Crab Nebula as seen in various wavelengths (from Observational astronomy)
Image 11History of the Universe – gravitational waves are hypothesized to arise from cosmic inflation, a rapidly accelerated expansion just after the Big Bang (from Physical cosmology)
Image 12Segment 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)
Image 13Historical Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur, India (from History of astronomy)
Image 14Amateur astronomer recording observations of the sun. (from Amateur astronomy)
Image 15Calendrical functions of the Berlin Gold Hat c. 1000 BC (from History of astronomy)
Image 16Overview of types of observational astronomy by observed wavelengths and their observability. (from Observational astronomy)
Image 17ALMA is the world's most powerful telescope for studying the Universe at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths. (from Observational astronomy)
Image 18The Hubble Space Telescope (from History of astronomy)
Image 19The Northern Hemisphere page from Johann Bayer's 1661 edition of Uranometria - the first atlas to have star charts covering the entire celestial sphere (from History of astronomy)
Image 20Sunset at the equinox from the prehistoric site of Pizzo Vento at Fondachelli Fantina, Sicily (from History of astronomy)
Image 21Comparison of CMB (Cosmic microwave background) results from satellites COBE, WMAP and Planck documenting a progress in 1989–2013 (from History of astronomy)
Image 22Babylonian tablet in the British Museum recording Halley's Comet in 164 BC (from History of astronomy)
Image 23The Nebra sky disk, Germany, 1800–1600 BC (from History of astronomy)
Image 24Portrait 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)
Image 25Ultra HD photography taken at La Silla Observatory (from Observational astronomy)
Image 26Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (from Observational astronomy)
Image 27The main platform at La Silla hosts a huge range of telescopes with which astronomers can explore the Universe. (from Observational astronomy)
Image 28One 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)
Image 299th-century diagram of the positions of the seven planets on 18 March 816, from the Leiden Aratea (from History of astronomy)
Image 30An amateur astrophotography setup with an automated guide system connected to a laptop (from Observational astronomy)
Image 31Southern Hemisphere (from History of astronomy)
Image 32The 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)
$Image 3350 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory (from Observational astronomy)$

Image 3350 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory (from Observational astronomy)
Image 34An assembly in Estonia to observe meteors (from Observational astronomy)
Image 35Places like Paranal Observatory offer crystal clear skies for observing astronomical objects with or without instruments. (from Amateur astronomy)
Image 36An 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)
Image 37The Oort cloud, one of the most successful theoretical models about the Solar System (from Theoretical astronomy)

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Featured article - show another

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Composite image using optical images from the HST and X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The Cat's Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco, discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature. Structurally, the object has had high-resolution images by the Hubble Space Telescope revealing knots, jets, bubbles and complex arcs, being illuminated by the central hot planetary nebula nucleus (PNN). It is a well-studied object that has been observed from radio to X-ray wavelengths. At the centre of the Cat's Eye Nebula is a dying Wolf–Rayet star, the sort of which can be seen in the Webb Telescope's image of WR 124. The Cat's Eye Nebula's central star shines at magnitude +11.4. Hubble Space Telescope images show a sort of dart board pattern of concentric rings emanating outwards from the centre. (Full article...)

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Did you know - show different entries

... that 12th-century Muslim scientist Al-Khazini, who proposed a theory of gravitation long before Isaac Newton, was, in his early life, a slave of the Seljuq Turks?
... that Kepler-47c is a circumbinary planet orbiting in the habitable zone of Kepler-47, a binary star system?
... that two high school students used the automated telescope at Leuschner Observatory to record the earliest images of supernova SN 1994I?
... that the Kuiper crater in the Kuiper quadrangle, named after Dutch American astronomer Gerard Kuiper, has the highest albedo recorded on Mercury?
...that Mt. Olympus Mons on Mars is the highest peak in the solar system?

More Did you know facts

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... that in many works of fiction, the asteroid belt is the remnants of a destroyed planet?
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... that a group of K-pop fans performed a dance with the goal of convincing a company to commit to 100% renewable energy?
... that examples of artificial planets in science fiction include Riverworld, the Well World, and the Death Star?
... that novelist Hal Clement created the planet Mesklin in 1953 based on the real-world suspected detection of an extrasolar planet?
... that Kim Ye-ji's performance in the 10 meter air pistol at the 2024 Summer Olympics led her to be dubbed the "coolest person on the planet"?

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Astronomy	WikiProject Solar System



WikiProject Cosmology	WikiProject Spaceflight

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Selected image - show another

Credit: NASA JPL CalTech

WD 0145+234 is a white dwarf star approximately 95 ly (29 pc) from Earth in the constellation of Aries that has been associated with studies suggesting that a very large exoasteroid near the star was substantially disrupted, resulting in a considerable amount of dust and debris around the star. It was discovered in 2019.

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Astronomy News

21 November 2024 –: The European Southern Observatory announces that its astronomers in Chile capture the first close-up image of a star outside the Milky Way. (The New York Times)
20 November 2024 – Discoveries of exoplanets: In a study published by the Nature journal, astronomers announce the discovery of IRAS 04125+2902 b, a newborn exoplanet. The discovery was made by Madyson Barber, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Nature) (ABC News)

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May anniversaries

1 May 1959 – The former Beltsville Center is renamed to Goddard Space Flight Center in honor of Dr. Robert H. Goddard, rocket pioneer who achieved first launch of a liquid-fueled rocket
4 May 1967 – Lunar Orbiter 4 is launched to perform a photographic survey of lunar surface features
7 May 1975 – Explorer 53 (SAS-C), a NASA X-ray astronomy space telescope, is launched from the San Marco Range in Kenya, Africa
7 May 1997 – English-language French science fiction action film, The Fifth Element is released showing passenger inter-constellation vehicles, spacefighter craft, and various non-human creatures
14 May 1935 – The planetarium at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California opens
14 May 1973 – The first American space station, Skylab, is launched
18 May 1969 – The Apollo 10 human spaceflight is launched, testing all aspects of the lunar landing mission, except the actual lunar landing
20 May 1978 – Pioneer Venus is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida becoming the first spacecraft placed in orbit around Venus
30 May 1971 – Mariner 9 robotic space probe is launched becoming the first spacecraft to orbit Mars

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Space-related Portals

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Astronomical events

All times UT unless otherwise specified.

5 May, 02:07	Eta Aquariids peak
11 May, 00:49	Moon at apogee
12 May, 16:56	Full moon
18 May, 00:55	Uranus at conjunction
26 May, 01:37	Moon at perigee
27 May, 03:02	New moon
30 May, 04:07	Mercury at superior conjunction