Why Study Astronomy?

Why Study Astronomy?

Why should we study the universe? As it says above, everything is part of the universe, and that includes us. That's right. You are part of the universe along with the planets, stars, and galaxies.

We live on a planet, Earth, which circles the Sun, which is a star called Sol. Just like all the other stars, it's part of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies in the cosmos. 

Astronomy is also much more than the scientific study of the objects and processes in the universe. It embodies many aspects of human history and culture. People first began to "use" the sky for navigation and calendar-making thousands of years ago. Over time, they began to wonder about those distant objects, and speculate about what they were and their origins. You find a lot of astronomy and mythology entertwined together throughout history. Over time, as people became more technologically oriented, they could build instruments to study the stars, planets, and galaxies. That's when the study of the sky moved from philosophy and the realm of myth to the realm of science and mathematics