Astronomy is a subject that studies the structure and development of celestial bodies and the universe in space. The contents include the structure, properties and operating rules of celestial bodies. Astronomy is an ancient science and has played an important role since the history of human civilization.

The object of astronomical research is huge in scale, extremely long in time and extreme in physical characteristics, so it is difficult to simulate it in the ground laboratory. So the research methods of astronomy mainly rely on observation. Because the earth's atmosphere is opaque to ultraviolet rays, X rays and gamma rays, many methods and means of space exploration have appeared one after another, such as balloons, rockets, artificial satellites and spaceships.

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The research significance of astronomy

Astronomy occupies a very important position in the early history of human civilization. The pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in Europe are famous prehistoric astronomical sites. Heliocentrism of Copernicus once liberated natural science from theology; Kant and Laplace's theory about the origin of the solar system opened the first gap in the metaphysical view of nature in the18th century.

The emergence of Newtonian mechanics, the discovery of nuclear energy and other events that play an important role in human civilization are closely related to astronomical research. At present, the study of high-energy astrophysics, compact stars and the evolution of the universe can greatly promote the development of modern science. The study of celestial bodies in the sun and solar system, including the earth and artificial satellites, has many applications in aerospace, geodesy, communication and navigation.

Astronomy follows the development path of observation-theory-observation, and constantly extends people's horizons to new depths in the universe. With the development of human society, the research object of astronomy has developed from the solar system to the whole universe.

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