Astronomy

Since the beginnings of humankind people have gazed where they can. Before the dawn of history someone noticed that certain celestial bodies moved in orderly and predictable paths, and astronomy 'an ancient science' was born. Yet some of science's newest discoveries have been made in this same field, which includes the study of all matter outside Earth's atmosphere. From simple observations of the motions of the sun and the stars as they pass across the sky, to advanced theories of the exotic states of matter in collapsed stars, astronomy has spanned the ages.

For centuries astronomers concentrated on learning about the motions of heavenly bodies. They saw the sun rise in the east and set in the west. In the night sky they saw tiny points of light. Most of these lights, the stars, seemed to stay in the same place in relation to one another, as if they were all fastened to a huge black globe surrounding Earth. Other lights, however, seemed to travel, going from group to group of stationary stars. They named these moving points, planets, which mean “wanderers” in Greek.

Ancient astronomers thought that the positions of celestial bodies revealed what was going to happen on Earth—wars, births, deaths, and good fortune or bad. This system of belief is called astrology. Most scientists no longer believe in astrology, but they have found that some ancient astrologers were good at observing the motions and positions of stars and planets.