PERKS OF BEING AN ASTROPHILE

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may have seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”
– Stephen Hawking

Why astronomy matters in our life. Many of us thinks that it’s just branch of science which deals with study of stars, space, universe etc. Even Wikipedia has the same definition. And it’s not wrong at all neither it will. Before understanding the importance of astronomy in our life, first we need to be aware about ourselves. Yes, often we have such question, where do we come from? The stuffs that resides in our(so called) body, where did we get it from?

You might not know about it but we all are made up of Stardust. Astronomy tells us the composition of matters which occurs in different celestial bodies, actually resides in body too! The matter that we all made up of is nothing different than the those which found on planets and stars. So, Astronomy is a key to understanding who we are and how we stack up.

If not stars, there would be no glass and steel, no internet and no iron-enriched vitamins to helps us make it through the day. Thus, learning a bit astronomy/physics could go a long way in understanding just how we got that. And it should be our genuine curiosity to know about such things.

Recently, we had a stunning interstellar visitor, comet NEOWISE. How fascinating that was to get to know about that comet. Just think, it was visible that time and won’t be back again for almost 6800 years. Its wondering, what that traveller will see on the Earth when it will pass again! That’s fascination we get from astronomy. It gives us an importance of our existence in this vastness field called Universe.

Thousands of years ago, people thought that we are at the centre of universe and everything revolved around us. They were so much used to believe on the several blind Faith about universe. For thousands of years people were so much busy with their problem on the Earth. Then the legendary man, sir Galileo Galilei, pointed the telescope at the sky and everything has changed since then! Humans have come to understand how universe works and the science behind everything.

Astronomy is like everytime you learn something new by looking(studying)at same thing. The process of knowing the unknowns keeps on going. What we know is a drop, what we don’t is an ocean. That how big the universe is to get and astronomy is roadmap to dig out that mysterious, undiscovered stuffs and phenomenon.

The big thing to know is that your place in the universe doesn’t end at the edge of the deep blue sky. The constellations fascinates us, in part because they are linked to the concept of of time and distance that are beyond our earthly imaginings. But instinctively, this tiny flickering points of lights are portals through which we might find answers to some of life’s toughest questions. Astronomy unravels the biggest question such as where did we came from and where we are going. Almost everyone is intrested in astronomy at their respective extent. But unfortunately, there are numerous people who don’t even understand the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun. Also, many people have no idea how eclipse happens, why planets shine like stars, even unaware of the difference between planets and stars. This is really disappointing to know how much awareness left to be spread.

Astronomy is the ultimate means of communicating with Nature. Anyone who’s looked up at dark night non polluted sky can easily appreciate the sheer rush from seeing all those points of light. Such jaunts is so deeply humbling.

I personally think astronomy as character building field. It helps to understand this vastness along with the fact that how small we are in this vast and eternal universe. Ego, status, prestige, money, fame, caste, creed all this fleeting things doesn’t matter when you’re looking towards the Milky way, Sagittarius, Vega, Sirius, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars!!!

There are so many obstacles that are disconnecting people from sky. From light pollution to many indoor distraction like hundreds of TV channels to videos games, Facebook, Instagram. There’s is saying written on book by Marcus Aurelius, the Meditations:

“Dwell on the beuty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them”.
It expresses gratitude, generosity and humbleness.

Finally, Astronomy is logical outgrowth of Sapien’s inherent curiosity and cussed need to know why….
“Why” is more important for everything. It’s our curiosity which makes us driven throughout our life. As Aristotle once noted, “All humans by nature have desire to know.”
The more curious you are, the lesser your worries become and even more questions will arise with abundant amount of answers you will have, that’s what curiosity is all about and Astronomy is driven by curiosity!!!