National Astronomy Day

A Celebration

Today, being National Astronomy Day, it is the celebration of such scientists as Jan Öort, Ernst Julius Öpik, and Stephen Hawking. They all pushed forward the science of astronomy, and gave us wonders that we would never have thought possible.

From them, we learnt that there is a giant cloud that surrounds the external of our universe, with lots of space debris such as asteroids, comets and meteorites held within. This is known as the Öort Cloud, which is situated further afield than the Kuiper Belt.

We have also learnt a whole range of interesting facts, such as the distance of the Adromeda galaxy from ours, how frequent there are crates on Mars, and other things that took years to fully understand.

Hawking's work on relativity theory, quantum mechanics and how black holes perform has lead to the possibility that there may be other dimensions of the same universe we live in. It sounds like science fiction, and lots of it has been mentioned in popular culture.

But What About Me?

Well, funny you should say that, you can be a part of the bigger picture. If you have a telescope, you can go finding out about the stars and planets.

If you want to read up more on astronomy, as well as partake in looking at the stars, you can also buy a whole range of books. Stephen Hawking released at least 7 books on the mathematics and physics of the universe. There are also lots of stargazing books you could read about the subject. There are also plenty of online resources you can use to help you, along with apps on your phone - I recommend Stellarium for a guide to the stars.