Astronomy and the Cosmos
One of the most fundamental needs of the human mind is to understand its environment.
Only if we are familiar with, and understand, our environment (or at least believe to understand) can we feel "at home". It is part of being conscious; conscious of your environment, of the dangers and of the opportunities, of food and comfort. Something that goes back to the most primitive living creatures.
Out of the fear of the unknown grew our mythology, the sagas and the fables in an attempt to create the familiarity needed for everyday living. Things we did not understand were caused by so-called gods who with super-human characteristics interacted with our environment through planned or playful guideance. But as civilisations out-grew the hunter-gatherer mentality and developed agriculture, it was realised that humans have the ability to shape their environment to suit their purpose, for food and for comfort. The unknown was no longer just something to be feared, it became a challenge to confront and to understand. Understanding the cyclic nature of the season, the sowing and the harvesting brought a plentiful reward. And as understanding grew beyond the immediate everyday things, the physical interactions between the changes in the heavens and changes on Earth lead to calendars and to realistic predictions and thus astronomy was born.
Today we like to say we have come a long way since then. We have created theories that can explain the physics of the cosmos. Technology has even opened up our path to the stars. But it only takes a short reflection to realise that, while the scope of our knowledge about the cosmos has increased dramatically, the gaps in this knowledge have also multiplied. Each solution to a problem and each new invention leads to new challenges and vast fields of new unknowns. The following is a collection of articles and reports on these challenges, some of them serious, some lighthearted, facing all of us.
- Controversies
Astronomers behaving badly
Life in the Universe
The five Ages of the Universe
- Cosmic Rays
Dangers of Radiation
- Cosmology
Mass(if) Mystery
Computational Cosmology
Einstein
Evolution of the Universe
Light at the end of the Dark Ages
Mining the 2DF Survey
Visualising the Universe
Pulsar Astronomy
- Diurnal Meetings
Around the World in 28 Days
- Galaxies
A Historical Perspective
Active Galactic Nuclei
The Growth of Galaxies
Theory of Black Holes
What Black Holes eat for Breakfast
- Globular Clusters
Globular Cluster, what are they good for
History and Definition
- Gravity
Gravitational Lensing
Who is Ray Bundle
Gravity Mystery
Gravity Waves
Probing Dark Matter
- History
Aborigonal Astronomy
Astronomical Tourist
Hoaxes
Australians discovered the Universe
Melbourne Observatory
The Great Melbourne Telescope
New Zealand Maori Astronomy
- Hollywood
Astrobuffs
- Meteorology
Leonids Shower
Meteor and Meteorites
Predicting Meteor Storms
Space Weather
Space Weather
The Cranbourne Meteor
The Sky is falling
- Photography
Astrophotography
CCD Cameras
The Devil is in the Details
- Planetarium
Planetarium in Education.html
- Solar System
The Lunar 100
Search for Extra Solar Planets
So you know all about Mars
Extra Solar Planets
Exploration of Mars
Exoplanets and Ice Dwarfs
Best Ever Opposition of Mars
Our Changing Sun
The Sun
Water on Mars
A History of Comets
A Talk by Bill Bradfield
Bill Bradfield
Sedna - Quaoar and Pluto
Planetary Formation
Extra Solar Planets 2006
New Insights into its Formation
Dynamic Jupiter
Towards the 2012 Transit of Venus
- Space Missions
Andrew Prentice about Saturn and Cassini
Andrew Prentice on the Dawn Project
- Stars
Hertzsprung-Russel
A Variable Passion
Promiscuous Stars
Pulsars and Supernova Remnants
Recent Variables Activity
Semi Red Variables
Variable Stars
Variable Stars Update
New Observations Mu1 Scorpii
- Telescopes
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Birth of the Telescope
Galileo and the Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope
Magnetometry
Next Generation Telescopes
Melbourne Observatory
The Great Melbourne Telescope
Astronomy from Antarctica
- The ASV
A Milestone for the ASV
ASV Website
ASV 80 Birthday
ASV Radio Astronomy
ASV 90 Anniversary
- Upper Yarra U3A
Astronomy Course
- Vision
How the Mind Works
Subject Index
Last Updated 17September 2012
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