Astronomy portal
Astronomy is a natural science that is the study of celestial objects (such as moons, planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies), the physics, chemistry, and evolution of such objects, and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth, including supernovae explosions, gamma ray bursts, and cosmic background radiation.
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures have left astronomical artifacts such as the Egyptian monuments and Nubian monuments, and early civilizations such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese, Indians, Iranians 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, and the making of calendars, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics.
Selected article
Triton is one of the few moons in the Solar System known to be geologically active. As a consequence, its surface is relatively young, with a complex geological history revealed in intricate and mysterious cryovolcanic and tectonic terrains. Part of its crust is dotted with geysers believed to erupt nitrogen.
The moon was discovered by British astronomer William Lassell just 17 days after Neptune itself was discovered by German astronomers Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, who were following co-ordinates given them by French astronomer and mathematician Urbain Le Verrier.
Did you know
- ... that Jerry Nelson is the principal designer and project scientist for the Keck telescopes?
- ... that five supernovae have been found in the Messier 100 spiral galaxy?
- ... that the Antlia Dwarf galaxy may have distorted the shape of its neighbour NGC 3109 one billion years ago?
- ... that AP Columbae, the closest young star known, formed after the dinosaurs became extinct?
- ... that a planet was discovered around the star MOA-2009-BLG-387L after it eclipsed a background star, refracting the star's light in a process called gravitational microlensing?
Categories
Astronomy : Archaeoastronomy - Astrophysics - Calendars - Catalogues - Celestial coordinate system - Celestial mechanics - Cosmology - Images - Large-scale structure of the cosmos - Observatories - Planetary science - Telescopes - Universe
Biographies : Astronomers - Other people - Amateur Astronomers
Astronomical objects : Lists - Galaxies - Nebulae - Planets - Stars
Spaceflight : Human spaceflight - Satellites - SETI - Spacecraft
Projects
Selected picture
NGC 1300 is a barred spiral galaxy about 61 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The galaxy is about 110,000 light-years across; just slightly larger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
March anniversaries
- 7 March 2009 – The space observatory Kepler is launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars
- 13 March 1781 – William Herschel observes Uranus, which he initially believes to be a comet, eventually leading to Uranus being identified as a planet
- 14 March 1986 – The European robotic spacecraft Giotto becomes the first satellite to observe a comet up close when it flies through and photographs Halley's Comet
- 16 March 1926 – Using a mixture of gasoline and liquid oxygen, Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket
- 18 March 2011 – MESSENGER becomes the first spacecraft to orbit around the planet Mercury
Things you can do
Here are some Open Tasks :
Astronomy featured article candidates:
Astronomy articles for which peer review has been requested: |
Wikibooks
These books may be in various stages of development. See also the related Science and Mathematics bookshelves.
- Astronomy
- GAT: A Glossary of Astronomical Terms
- Introduction to Astrophysics
- General relativity
- Observing the Sky from 30°S
- Observing the Sky from 40°N
Wikijunior
Astronomical events
All times UT unless otherwise specified.
8 March, 10:57 | Jupiter at opposition |
9 March, 01:58 | New moon and total solar eclipse |
10 March, 06:57 | Moon at perigee |
20 March, 04:30 | Earth northward equinox |
23 March, 11:48 | Full moon and penumbral lunar eclipse |
23 March, 20:12 | Mercury at superior conjunction |
25 March, 14:04 | Moon at apogee |
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