Integrating Astronomy and Physics
"Contrary to the belief generally held by laboratory physicists, astronomy has contributed to the growth of our understanding of physics." Physics has helped in the elucidation of astronomical phenomena, and astronomy has helped in the elucidation of physical phenomena:
- discovery of the law of gravitation came from the information provided by the motion of the Moon and the planets,
- viability of nuclear fusion as demonstrated in the Sun and stars and yet to be reproduced on Earth in a controlled form.
Integrating astronomy with physics involves
| Physical interaction | Astronomical phenomena |
| Electromagnetism: | observation using the electromagnetic spectrum |
| black body radiation | stellar radiation |
| synchrotron radiation | radio and X-ray sources |
| inverse-Compton scattering | astronomical X-ray sources |
| acceleration of charged particles | pulsars and cosmic rays |
| absorption/scattering | interstellar dust |
| Strong and weak interaction: | nucleosynthesis in stars |
| cosmic rays | |
| supernovae | |
| primeval universe | |
| Gravity: | motion of planets, satellites and binary stars, stellar structure and evolution, N-body motions in clusters of stars and galaxies, black holes, and the expanding universe. |
The aim of astronomy is to understand the physics and chemistry from the laboratory that is behind cosmic events so as to enrich our understanding of the cosmos and of these sciences as well.
Read more about this topic: Theoretical Astronomy
Famous quotes containing the words astronomy and/or physics:
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)
“... it is as true in morals as in physics that all force is imperishable; therefore the consequences of a human action never cease.”
—Tennessee Claflin (1846–1923)