Astronomy is the natural science that deals with the observation and explanation of celestial events that occur in space.
Studies the origins and evolution, physical, chemical and temporal properties of the objects that form the universe and which can be observed on the celestial sphere.
It is one of the oldest sciences and many archaic civilizations around the world have studied the sky and astronomical events in a more or less systematic way: Egyptians and Greeks in the Mediterranean area, Babylonians, Indians and Chinese in the East and finally the Mayans and the Incas in the Americas.
These ancient astronomical studies were oriented towards the study of the positions of the stars (astrometry), the periodicity of events and cosmology and therefore, in particular for this last aspect, ancient astronomy is almost always strongly connected with religious aspects and divination aspects in the past considered important and strategic.
In the twenty-first century, however, modern astronomical research is practically synonymous with astrophysics.
Astronomy should not be confused with astrology, a pseudoscience that claims that the apparent motions of the Sun and planets in the zodiac somehow influence human events, personal and collective.
Even if the two disciplines have a common origin and have been united for centuries, they are totally different today: astronomers have embraced the scientific method since the time of Galileo, unlike astrologers.
Astronomy is one of the few sciences in which the research work of the amateur and amateur (the amateur astronomer) can play a relevant role, providing data on variable stars or discovering comets, nines, supernovae, asteroids or other objects.
Etymology
Etymologically, the word “astronomy” comes from the Latin astronomĭa, which in turn comes from the Greek ἀστρονομία (‘astronomy’ composed of ἄστρον ‘astron’ «star» and νόμος ‘nomos’ «law, norm»). Most sciences use the Greek suffix λογία (‘logia’ ‘treatise, study’), such as cosmology and biology.
In fact, “astronomy” could have taken the name of astrology, but this denomination was attributed to what is considered a pseudoscience, but which in the beliefs of many peoples had the aim of predicting the future through the study of the sky.
Although both share a common origin, they are very different: while astronomy is a science that applies the scientific method, modern astrology is a pseudoscience that follows an unproven belief system.
