Through the science of Astronomy we can know more about the process of the creation of the stars as well as the history of the universe. Through the various sophisticated processes that are involved in the science of astronomy, we can also measure the distance of separation of one star from the other as well as forecast the time when they will be destroyed.

As mankind learned more about the stars through Astronomy and its allied sciences, the use of imagination was merged with this newly gained knowledge through which we could also visualize shapes and characters in the various groups of stars. We named them in accordance with these characteristics and termed them to be scientifically as constellations. This was the perfect blend of the science and the arts and allowed us to become even more involved in this process of getting to know more about our celestial neighbors.

The science of Astronomy also allows us to gain enough knowledge about the stars through which we can differentiate between stars and celestial bodies which are not starts. Through this knowledge we can also identify other stars, even though visually they may look different. An example of this can be the Sun. though visually very different from a normal star, yet the Sun has been proved to be, beyond a doubt, a star… through the study of Astronomy.

They understood then, thousands of years ago, that the majority of stars appear to rise in the Eastern skies at night and travel on circular paths. They also noticed that some ‘stars’ were ‘wanderers’ (we call them planets) and that sometimes they went ‘against the flow’.

They also named groups of stars that we now call constellations or even galaxies and knew that those visible in the winter were different from those visible in the summer.and that others were visible all year round. The average common man of 5,000 – 10,000 years ago almost certainly knew more about the movement of the celestial bodies than the average common man of today does. (I mean men and women here, of course).

They learned how to calculate or at least locate the extremities of the sunrise and went to extraordinary lengths to mark those positions with huge stone structures, such as Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, probably to facilitate the location of certain positions of the sun or other planets or stars, which may have been important to their religious beliefs or crop cycles.

In 1609, Galileo invented the first artificial device for studying the stars and planets. It was the first astronomical telescope and through it he was able to observe things millions of miles away that no one had ever seen before. Because of the deductions he drew from his observations, he clashed with the Roman Catholic Church and was often in serious danger for his life, so radical were his discoveries.

But mankind was not intimidated, and since then we have gone on to build ever bigger and ever better telescopes with which we can even detect radio waves, microwaves, X-rays, infrared waves and gamma waves from outer space. Forty years ago, we even travelled to our Moon. and we have sent probes to eight of the nine planets in our Solar System, as well as to several comets and asteroids.

Where are we going next? That decision was always up to the government of the United States and the old Soviet Union, but now there are other players in the field. What will China or India want to explore with their possibly slightly different outlook on life? Or will it be just a question of financial benefit?

The world may be in a state of flux and power may be shifting from its traditional seats, but it has not diminished interest in questions that scientists think can only be answered in space. These are exciting times in the science of astronomy, but then man has always found astronomy exciting.