1.1.2 What is Astronomy?

What is Astronomy?
1.1.2

By Caitlin Ford

Objectives

- identify what astronomy is

- identify the major branches of astronomy

- identify what an astronomer does

Open Ended

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word "astronomy"?

​What is Astronomy?

Astronomy - a branch of science that studies everything in the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere

Celestial Objects - an object in space such as a star, planet, or moon

Astronomy also deals with the composition, formation, motion, and evolution of celestial objects

Astronomers

Astronomers are scientists that study matter and energy in space. However, they cannot study objects up close, so they use telescopes and other instruments, which rely on light.

​Gravity

Gravity is an attractive force. It is the reason the moon orbits the Earth and the Earth orbits the sun. Astronomers study the gravity of everything in space.

Multiple Select

Which of the following do astronomers study? (select two!)

• the Sun, moon, stars, and space

• the forms of life on Earth

• how light and gravity affect the universe

• the causes of global warming

​Branches of Astronomy

Astrogeology - study of rocks and geologic processes on worlds in space 

Astrophysics - study of the energy and forces acting in and on celestial objects and space

Astrometry - involves finding precise positions of celestial objects

Astrobiology - involves searching for the existence of living beings outside Earth

Sub-Branches

Planetary Science - the study of the atmosphere, surface features, and interiors of planets and how planets form and change.

Cosmology - the study of how the universe began, its early history, its present state, and its future.

Interdisciplinary

This means that astronomy requires knowledge of other sciences. If you want to study the possibility of life on other worlds, you must know biology. If you want to study the composition of celestial objects, you must know chemistry, and so on.

Drag and Drop

An astronomer may​

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or measure distances to celestial objects.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

search for life on other planets

study life forms in Earth's oceans

research the affects of greenhouse gases

study how plants grow in different soil

Categorize

Options (8)

study rocks on Mars

map the surface features of asteroids

measure the energy output of stars

research the habitability of exoplanets

explore the possibility of microbial life on Mars

investigate how light bends around massive objects

measure the exact positions of stars in the sky

predict the trajectory of a comet

Categorize the activities with the correct branch of astronomy.

astrogeology

astrophysics

astrobiology

astrometry

Open Ended

Which branch of astronomy interests you the most?

Great Job!

Today, you learned:

- what astronomy is

- about the major branches of astronomy

- what an astronomer does