Astronomy: A Spacious, Ever-expanding Field That Has More to Give

Ylli Mlinaku

Greetings to all! Today, we are talking about the vast field of Astronomy. Astronomy is an expansive subject dedicated to the study of all things outside this world - from the nearby comets, planets, and celestial bodies in our solar system to the farthest stars, galaxies, unique stars and black holes across the whole universe. It is an excellent field for all minds intrigued by whatever lies beyond our small world, and into the greater depths of space; a home for deep thought for all people since the beginning of humanity!

Space has a plethora of almost mind-blowing facts. Throughout space, distances are so vast that metres and kilometres are not suitable measurements to cover them. Instead, the custom is to use the light year measurement - the distance light itself (speed 300,000,000 metres per second, the fastest physical speed in the universe) travels in a full year. This is around 9.5 trillion kilometres!

An effect of this is that we can only observe objects from the light that is hitting our eyes when it reaches us - this means that we are not actually seeing the stars as they are truly at this moment. We are seeing them how they were, however long light took to travel between us and them. The observable universe is estimated to be greater than 90 billion light years in diameter! On top of this, the universe continues to expand, with some theories suggesting at an ever-increasing rate. So, the universe is getting even bigger, adding to its size.

In university, you might study concepts in Astronomy like neutron stars, black holes, planetary systems, new stars and more! Astronomy has many major goals, but among them are: finding new life on different planets, studying what happened at the beginning of the universe and many more. Sometimes studies are targeted – other times, we just look through what powerful telescopes have taken pictures of and observe them for many details!

This was an overview of some concepts in Astronomy. But are there any unanswered questions left in the field? Yes indeed, there are many! A major outstanding mystery is simply the one about black holes. Einstein’s theory of relativity proposed that black holes were regions with a centre singularity, where the role of space and time swap and the force of gravitational pull becomes infinite, making it theoretically impossible to escape and stopping time as a whole, meaning no time would be felt in this region. This is a very compelling and plausible theory, but others suggest black holes may be made of a “foam” in the event horizon with the highest possible density. Modern science still has no firm grasp on what black holes truly are, or what secrets they contain.

A second mystery is simply the “theory of everything” mystery that has plagued scientists for centuries. We have many theories about space, but can we get one unified theory of spacetime that perfectly describes everything?

Overall, major and minor new discoveries in the field of astronomy and other fields which link to it, like particle physics, are made nearly every day accessible by reading scientific journals and articles. Our understanding is constantly being challenged with new discoveries in space, with new bizarre findings that do not fit into any of our models being commonplace in astronomy. There is still a huge amount more to learn in the future, and we really pray to God for more insight!

You should study astronomy if the field of space, physics or geophysics interests you. It is a great field that has much more to discover, so there will always be insightful work to do. If you want to study this course, you need at least 5 GCSE’s between grades 9-4 (A** to C-), 2 or 3 A-levels including maths and physics – or equal qualifications – and a first or 2:1 degree in a relevant subject. Relevant subjects include: maths, physics, astrophysics, geophysics, astronomy, and space science. You can also opt for general science courses at university and do these relevant subjects as a master’s degree. More info can be found through research. A good website: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/astronomer.

Thank you all for reading! I would love if this article piqued your interest in astronomy or related fields, or that you at least took something nice away from it and it benefited you.