Astronomy

The discoveries and breakthroughs of the past has created the foundations of such knowledge used daily in the life of a scientist. Indeed it was the discoveries of Isaac Newton, Kepler, Einstein, and many others that propelled us into a better understanding of the universe. Viktor Hambardzumyan, put forth the new idea of activity of the galactic nuclei (core), to having a role in the genesis and evolution of galaxies and their systems. That is to say that a galaxy can give birth to another galaxy. What a great idea!

Being a scientist can be difficult. It's not just the hard work of learning the sciences, but being faced with opposition of those in authority at times. Galileo Galilei, for example, was ordered to come to Rome to stand trial for his advocation of heliocentrism (that the Earth revolves around the sun) in 1633. His book "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" supported heliocentrism and such thinking was against the view of the church which supported the idea that the Earth was the center of the universe and the sun and planets revolved around it. During the trial he was threatened with torture if he "didn't tell the truth." The truth that was being asked for in this scenario I believe was for Galileo to agree with the church and support their view despite his own evidence and observations (the discoveries of Copernicus also reinforced Galileo's findings). Galileo was placed on house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life, for "heresy" as the outcome of the trial. While Galileo was under house arrest he finished completing work that gave rise to two new sciences, kinematics and strength of materials. Einstein praised Galileo's two new sciences in later years and as a result of this work Galileo is often called the "father of modern physics". He never stopped his work, even after losing his trail against the church, he persevered and by doing so reached scientists like Einstein centuries later.

An Astronomer in the sixteenth century, Giordano Bruno, an early supporter of the Copernican theory that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun, put forward the view that the fixed stars are similar to the Sun and are likewise accompanied by planets. He was one of the first people to say, look at those stars in the sky at night...could there be life around those stars as it is here on Earth around our star, the Sun? He was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition in 1600, for his views on Astronomy and pantheism. Pantheism is the view that the Universe (or Nature) and God are identical; they do not believe in a personal creator god. So why was Bruno given such a harsh punishment for these things? In a word - Control. They made an example of him merely to keep everyone else under their rule and control.

Since the times of Einstein and Galileo there have been many improvements in science. The recent discovery of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) is an incredible feat of Astronomy. As I'm typing this we have 1883 confirmed exoplanets. More information can be found at PlanetQuest. One of the amazing discoveries from the search for exoplanets is that Earth size planets are commonly found. Here is a video summarizing how exoplanets are detected - click here. You don't need to get a degree in Physics or Astronomy to be part of this. There are citizen science projects where scientists need our help to sort through a mountain of data. One such project called PlanetHunters allows everyday people like you and me to become a part of the discoveries of our time.

Organic matter in space is being found in many places. There are Giant Cosmic Space Clouds of Beer in space. Some are 1000 times larger than our solar system. These ethyl alcohol clouds contain carbon. Meteors have also been found that were rich in carbon, an element essential to life. Humans are carbon based life. What's all this mean? That the elements within you are also found throughout the universe. Stars create organic compounds and eject them into space. Stars are not only the power stations of the universe for sustaining life, but also generators of organic compounds (the stuff of life itself).