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Picture below is the night sky showing the constellations
The picture is an example of how the night sky looks in San Francisco on January 9.
Astronomy is the scientific study of the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere.
Famous Astronomers and Mathematicians:
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Units used to measure the vast distances in spaces are:
1. The astronomical Unit (AU) which is the average distance between the Earth and the Sum (93,000,000 miles)
2. Light Year (Ly) the distance light travels in a year. Its rate is 186,000 miles per second or 300,000 kilometers per second. In one year, light travels 5.87 trillion miles.
3. Parsec, the distance of a star when the star exhibits a parallax of one second. This distance equals 3.26 light years or 206,265 astronomical units. Parsecs
The temperatures are measured in degrees Kelvin. The scale starts from absolute zero, which is -273 degrees Celsius. or -460 degrees Fahrenheit.
An exciting new concept is the mapping and analyzing of the entire sky with three dimensional pictures using a huge telescope (figure above). A sample map a yard wide and 33 feet long will display only six minutes of observations. It will tale years into the twenty-first century to complete the project. For details: Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Click below for the component of Astronomy that you want.
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Is there other evidence of life in our Solar System? Click below to find out.
Other life
forms in our Solar System
Is there water on Mars? Click below
For other information about Space click below
Astronomy is also used in the preparation of the Calendar, in
the measurement of Time, and also determine the seasons.
| The Calendar | The Calendar |
| Time | Time |
| Seasons | Seasons |
| Back to Main Page | Return to Main Page |
| Return to Home page | Return to Home Page |
| Geology | Geology |
| Meteorology | Meteorology |