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Star Astronomy - The Study of the Sun and The Stars
Astronomy is, in general, a huge subject - as vast as the universe it describes. Star astronomy
is just one part of the overall science and hobby of Astronomy. There are ample phenomenon and objects
in just our own solar system to keep someone busy exploring the skies for an entire life time.
Many people decide, then, to specialize, to focus their attention on the brightest objects. And these
bright objects
are
often the first space objects that peaks people's interest in astronomy, originally – the stars.
Star astronomy begins about 92,955,820.5 miles from Earth, with our own sun. Its energy output, every second, is staggering. How much? The answer averages around 4 × 10^26 watts or the equivelant of 4 trillion trillion 100 watt light bulbs.
Our own sun contains just over 98% of the total mass in the solar system. That's compared to all the planets, moons, space rocks and other material. It would take 109 Earths to span the sun's disk, and over 1.3 million Earths would fit within the sun.
The sun's heat and energy is generated from a nuclear fusion reaction in the sun's core where the pressure is 340 billion times the pressure on Earth and temperatures reach 27,000,000 degreesF. That would burn a pizza in a nanosecond...
Since proxomity to Earth is so close, compared to other stars, the Sun is the most thoroughly studied star. It's about 250,000 times closer to Earth than the next known star.
Still a very interesting part of star astronomy is that there's so much to work with, beyond our own solar system. From the Earth about 5,000 stars, every one in our own Milky Way galaxy, can be seen with the naked eye. With telescopes many more of the over 1 x 10^22 stars in the universe (that's an estimate) can be seen. By the way, that's a 1 followed by 22 zeros.
In fact, even a small telescope opens the eyes of an amateur star astronomer to hundreds of thousands of stars and star systems. Imagine that!
Larger telescopes can see other galaxies that contain an estimated total of over 200 billion stars. It's a project of generations just to count each one.
Star astronomy experts have now proven that many other stars have planets. They know this first through measuring the wobble caused to stars by the effects of a planet's gravity and other objects orbiting them. And in late 2008, astronomers finally took the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars, and even of entire solar systems. To some this means that we are another step closer to verifying the existence of other intelligent life out there somewhere in the universe.
Will Vulcans or Klingons visit us, tomorrow? Probably not. But star astronomy and its study of our own Sun and all the stars in the universe will continue. As it maybe continuing somewhere on another planet where telescopes are aimed at Earth and our solar system, studying our star!
About the Author: Scott Harker is the publisher of several websites including: Alcoholism - The Drinking Disease, Secret Gardens, More Magic Tricks, Guide to Niagara Falls, and On The Hook | Play a Fishing Game.
Star astronomy begins about 92,955,820.5 miles from Earth, with our own sun. Its energy output, every second, is staggering. How much? The answer averages around 4 × 10^26 watts or the equivelant of 4 trillion trillion 100 watt light bulbs.
Our own sun contains just over 98% of the total mass in the solar system. That's compared to all the planets, moons, space rocks and other material. It would take 109 Earths to span the sun's disk, and over 1.3 million Earths would fit within the sun.
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The sun's heat and energy is generated from a nuclear fusion reaction in the sun's core where the pressure is 340 billion times the pressure on Earth and temperatures reach 27,000,000 degreesF. That would burn a pizza in a nanosecond...
Since proxomity to Earth is so close, compared to other stars, the Sun is the most thoroughly studied star. It's about 250,000 times closer to Earth than the next known star.
Still a very interesting part of star astronomy is that there's so much to work with, beyond our own solar system. From the Earth about 5,000 stars, every one in our own Milky Way galaxy, can be seen with the naked eye. With telescopes many more of the over 1 x 10^22 stars in the universe (that's an estimate) can be seen. By the way, that's a 1 followed by 22 zeros.
In fact, even a small telescope opens the eyes of an amateur star astronomer to hundreds of thousands of stars and star systems. Imagine that!
Larger telescopes can see other galaxies that contain an estimated total of over 200 billion stars. It's a project of generations just to count each one.
Star astronomy experts have now proven that many other stars have planets. They know this first through measuring the wobble caused to stars by the effects of a planet's gravity and other objects orbiting them. And in late 2008, astronomers finally took the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars, and even of entire solar systems. To some this means that we are another step closer to verifying the existence of other intelligent life out there somewhere in the universe.
Will Vulcans or Klingons visit us, tomorrow? Probably not. But star astronomy and its study of our own Sun and all the stars in the universe will continue. As it maybe continuing somewhere on another planet where telescopes are aimed at Earth and our solar system, studying our star!
About the Author: Scott Harker is the publisher of several websites including: Alcoholism - The Drinking Disease, Secret Gardens, More Magic Tricks, Guide to Niagara Falls, and On The Hook | Play a Fishing Game.
News About Star Astronomy
 Daily Mail | NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Zooms in on a Magnified Galaxy Clarksville Online Astronomers would like to see how star formation progressed deep within these galaxies. Such details would be beyond the reach of Hubble's vision were it not for the magnification made possible by gravity in the intervening lens region. Get our top stories |
 Yahoo! Singapore News | Fourth potentially habitable planet is discovered Yahoo! Singapore News The theory about water, however, cannot be confirmed until astronomers learn more about the planet’s atmosphere. Other planets circling the same star -- which is part of a three-star system -- could include a gas-giant and an additional super-Earth ... Jackpot: astronomers tag Goldilocks planet New Study Shows How Trace Elements Affect Stars' Habitable Zones |
 Press-Register - al.com (blog) | Stars Over the Coast astronomy column Feb. 5-11 Moon to pay visit to an array ... Press-Register - al.com (blog) Look just below and right of the gibbous moon, and you'll spot a very bright star. This is Procyon, the brighter half of the two-star constellation Canis Minor (the Pup or Little Dog). Procyon forms an interesting quadrangle with Sirius (below and ... |
 Gloucester County Times - NJ.com | South Jersey Skies: Stars in the sky vs sand on the beach Gloucester County Times - NJ.com By Jim Six/South Jersey Newspapers Have you heard the claim that there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world? Clearly both numbers are very large. Can modern astronomy confirm or deny this assertion? |
Giant stars shine through city lights Boston Globe The three stars in its middle, Orion's Belt, makes it unmistakable. Many people now assume you can't do astronomy at all from the city or suburbs. And that's not true. The two stars to the Belt's upper left mark Orion's shoulders. |
Star Maps From Mobile App Maker Brings Astronomy to the Masses Space.com The makers of a popular astronomy app have released a series of free star maps and new educational tools to help both casual and more experienced stargazers learn more about the cosmos, the app's designers said. Starmap is providing users with free ... |
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