Astronomy
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures left behind astronomical artifacts such as the
Egyptian monuments and
Stonehenge, and early civilizations such as the
Babylonians,
Greeks,
Chinese,
Indians, and
Maya performed methodical observations of the
night sky. However, the invention of the
telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as
astrometry,
celestial navigation, observational astronomy, the making of
calendars, and even
astrology, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with
astrophysics.
During the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into
observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of celestial objects, which is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.
Amateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient
phenomena.
Ancient astronomy is not to be confused with
astrology, the belief system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Although the
two fields share a common origin and a part of their methods (namely, the use of
ephemerides), they are distinct.
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