1.1.1 What is Astronomy

WHAT IS ASTRONOMY

Lesson 1.1.1

OBJECTIVES

• identify what astronomy is

• identify the major branches of astronomy

• identify what an astronomer does

• describe a branch of astronomy

VOCABULARY

• Astronomy

• Astronomer

• Celestial Object

• Interstellar Space

• Branches of Astronomy: Astrobiology, Astrogeology, Astrometry, Astrophysics, Planetary

Science Cosmology

ASTRONOMY BASIC TERMS

Astronomy, Astronomer, Celestial Objects, Interstellar Space, Gravity

ASTRONOMY

• branch of science that studies

everything in the universe beyond
Earth's atmosphere

• the study of

• celestial objects and

phenomena in space

• the composition, formation,

motion, and evolution of celestial
objects

• the formation and evolution of

the universe as a whole

CELESTIAL OBJECT

• Any object that is beyond

Earth's atmosphere

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GRAVITY

• a force that all matter exerts.

• The more matter an object has, the

greater its gravity

• Astronomers study how gravity affects

objects and light

INTERSTELLAR SPACE

• The empty region that lies

between stars

ASTRONOMER

• scientists who study matter and energy

in space

• cannot directly interact with most of the

objects they study

• collect and study the light reflected

from the objects using telescopesand
other instruments.

• study llight, gravity, everything in space,

and even space itself.

Multiple Select

Which of the following describes what an astronomer does? (more than 1 answer!)

• 
  searches for life on different planets

• studies life forms in Earth's oceans

• measures distances to celestial objects

• researches how the Sun affects Earth

BRANCHES OF ASTRONOMY

Astrobiology, Astrogeology, Astrometry, Astrophysics

ASTROGEOLOGY

• Study of rocks and geology

processes on worlds in space

•Curiosity

•Curiosity plummeted toward the surface of Mars
in 2012 , 250 million miles from its home world. T

•the rover has made many amazing discoveries,
like the evidence of geologic change and water,
as it searched the red planet

•Astrogeologist Kenneth Farley used
the Curiosity rover to date the rocks on
Mars.

•Astrogeologists try to figure out if the same
processes that form rocks on Earth form
rocks on other worlds.

ASTROPHYSICS

• Study of the physical processes of

celestial objects and space

•Priyanka Chaturvedi is an astrophysicist, searching for
distant planets that orbit other stars.

•These planets are called exoplanets. For instance,
WASP-12b is a giant, glowing planet shaped like an egg.

•unlike Mars, WASP-12b does not orbit the sun. It orbits a
distant star

•Astrophysicists are concerned with the energy and forces
acting in and on celestial objects and space.

ASTROMETRY

• Study of precise positions of

objects in space

•Alan Bloss, an astronomer at Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also looks
for exoplanets, but he studies astrometry.

•Many exoplanets are so small they cannot be
seen, even through the most powerful
telescopes.

•As a planet goes around a star, it causes the star
to wobble. When Bloss finds a wobbling star, he
uses mathematics to calculate the distance and
size of the planet near that star.

ASTROBIOLOGY

• Searching for the

existence of living beings
outside of Earth

Match

Match the following

• Astrogeology

• Astrometry

• Astrobiology

Rocks on Mars

Distance of Stars from Earth

Life on Venus

• Rocks on Mars

• Distance of Stars from Earth

• Life on Venus

SUB BRANCHES OF ASTRONOMY

PLANETARY SCIENCE

• deals with the study of planets.

a sub-branch of
astrometry that deals
with the study of
planets.

COSMOLOGY

• deals with the study of planets.

•sub-branch of
astrophysics that involves
the study of the origin and
evolution of the universe.

•Astronomer Stephen
Hawking worked to
understand the origin and
evolution of the universe.

• His area of research,
cosmology, includes the
study of large-scale
structures of the universe,
such as galaxies and
groups of galaxies, and
the universe's birth,
present state, and
ultimate fate.

ASTRONOMY

• branch of science that studies

everything in the universe beyond
Earth's atmosphere

• the study of

• celestial objects and

phenomena in space

• the composition, formation,

motion, and evolution of celestial
objects

• the formation and evolution of

the universe as a whole

Poll

Which branch of Astronomy interests you the most?

• Astrobiology

• Astrogeology

• Cosmology

• Astrophysics

• Planetary Science

Conclusion

• identify what astronomy is

• identify the major branches of astronomy

• identify what an astronomer does

• describe a branch of astronomy

Categorize

Options (20)

Computer Systems and Engineering (BS and MS)

Navy Pilot

Time in Space: 165 days

Flight Test Engineering (BS and two MS)

Navy Pilot/Space X

Time in space 167 Days

Electrical Engineering (BS and MS)

NASA Academy at Goddard

Time in Space: 328 Days

Space Science (BS and MS)

Royal Canadian Air Force

No space: Aquanaut and Cavenaut

Age: 47

Age: 50

Age:49

Age: Also 50

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Reid Wiseman

Victor Glover

Christina Koch

Jeremy Hansen