Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects like stars, comets, planets and galaxies. It is derived from Greek words astron and nomos which mean ‘star’ and ‘law’ respectively. It is related with formation and development of the universe, motion of celestial objects, evolution, physics and chemistry.

Since the 20th century, the field of astronomy has got divided into two branches: observational and theoretical. Observational astronomy emphasis on acquiring and analyzing the data by using basic principles of physics. Whereas, theoretical astronomy focuses on the development of computer or analytical models to explain astronomical objects and phenomena. Both these branches compliment each other.

Fun Facts About The Sun

The Sun is 4.5 billion years old and produces 383 billion trillion kilowatts of energy.
Sunlight takes 8 minutes to reach the Earth and is responsible for the ocean currents and weather patterns on our planet.
The Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical uneven orbit and the distance between them varies depending on where the Earth lies in that orbit.
The Sun is only an average size for a star but still accounts for 98% of the total matter in our solar system.
The solar winds produced by the Sun extends to about 50AU, where AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
The lightning in the sky is nearly 3 times hotter than the Sun. Read the rest of this entry »