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Astronomy

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  • $\begingroup$ Astronomy encompasses more than just mapping out the universe, doesn't it? Wouldn't all the physics of the universe be under the umbrella of astronomy as well? And are those physics useful in practical applications? $\endgroup$
    – Scottie
    Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 18:51
  • $\begingroup$ NASA defines astronomy as "the study of stars, planets and space". Honestly I'd say the physics of the universe are the same as the physics of earth, so most everything we see would already be covered by earthbound physics. I'm sure some laws of physics can only be observed/discovered at sizes and speeds only observable through astronomy, but on the other hand I doubt those would have practical applications. Maybe we'd be able to discover loopholes in fusion or some such based on spectroscopic analysis of stars? I'm not sure what else we could be looking at. Someone else might know better. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Wertz
    Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 19:51
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    $\begingroup$ I can't comment on other people's posts yet >.< I'm not sure I agree with Pela's answer to be honest. I might be overly narrow in my definition of astronomy but I feel like most of his answer deals more with space exploration or rocket science rather than just studying the stars and other planets. Maybe something to consider would be studying Venus's greenhouse gas effects will (has?) help us understand the effects of similar gases on our own planet. Studying the weather on other planets in general might help our own weather models. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Wertz
    Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 19:55
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    $\begingroup$ To be fair, he did say "spin offs". $\endgroup$
    – Scottie
    Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 20:02
  • $\begingroup$ Fair enough. I wasn't sure how tightly you wanted the answers tied to astronomy itself versus related fields. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Wertz
    Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 20:06