Astrophysics

Astrophysics and astronomy are the application of the theories and methods of physics to the study of stellar structure, stellar evolution, the origin of the solar system, and related problems of cosmology. Because astrophysics is a broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

Astrophysics developed from the ancient science of astronomy. Astronomers of early civilizations performed methodical observations of the night sky, and astronomical artifacts have been found from much earlier periods. After centuries of developments by Babylonian and Greek astronomers, western astronomy lay dormant for fourteen centuries until Nicolaus Copernicus modified the Ptolemaic system by placing the sun at the center of the universe. Tycho Brahe's detailed observations led to Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and Galileo's telescope helped the discipline develop into a modern science. Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation provided a physical, dynamic basis for Kepler's laws. By the early 19th cent., the science of celestial mechanics had reached a highly developed state at the hands of Leonhard Euler, J. L. Lagrange, P. S. Laplace, and others. Powerful new mathematical techniques allowed solution of most of the remaining problems in classical gravitational theory as applied to the solar system. At the end of the 19th century, the discovery of spectral lines in sunlight proved that the chemical elements found in the Sun were also found on Earth. Interest shifted from determining the positions and distances of stars to studying their physical composition (see stellar structure and stellar evolution). Because the application of physics to astronomy became increasingly important throughout the 20th century, the distinction between astronomy and astrophysics has faded.

The discovery by Karl Jansky in 1931 that radio signals were emitted by celestial bodies initiated the science of radio astronomy. Most recently, the frontiers of astronomy have been expanded by space exploration. Perturbations and interference from the earth’s atmosphere make space-based observations necessary for infrared, ultraviolet, gamma-ray, and X-ray astronomy. The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, has made possible visual observations of a quality far exceeding those of earthbound instruments; earth-bound observatories using telescopes with adaptive optics will now be able to compensate for the turbulence of Earth's atmosphere.

Physical cosmology is the study of the formation and evolution of the universe on its largest scales. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity plays a central role in all modern cosmological theories. In the early 20th century, Hubble's discovery that the universe was expanding.

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