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Astrophysics

What is Astrophysics?

Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to seek to understand the universe and our place in it. The field explores topics such as the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe.

What does Astrophysicist do?

Astronomers or astrophysicists study the universe to help us understand the physical matter and processes in our own solar system and other galaxies. It involves studying large objects, such as planets, as well as tiny particles.

Going deeper in Astrophysics

In practice, the three fields form a tight-knit family.

Ask for the position of a nebula or what kind of light it emits, and an astronomer might answer first. Ask what the nebula is made of and how it formed and an astrophysicist could pipe up. Ask how the data fit with the formation of the universe, and a cosmologist would probably jump in. Or they might all chime in to explore all three questions. Isaac Newton

Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to seek to understand the universe and our place in it.

The field explores topics such as the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. It has two sibling sciences, astronomy and cosmology, though the lines between these branches can blur.

In the most rigid sense:

Astrophysics creates physical theories of small to medium-size objects and structures in the universe.

Astronomy measures the positions, luminosities, motions and other characteristics of celestial objects.

Cosmology covers the cosmos' largest structures and the universe as a whole.LAY SOUND

In practice, the three fields form a tight-knit family.

Ask for the position of a nebula or what kind of light it emits, and an astronomer might answer first. Ask what the nebula is made of and how it formed and an astrophysicist could pipe up. Ask how the data fit with the formation of the universe, and a cosmologist would probably jump in. Or they might all chime in to explore all three questions.

ASTROPHYSICS AT NASA

Astrophysicists seek to understand the universe and our place in it.

At NASA, the aims of its astrophysics work are "to discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars," according to NASA's website.

NASA states that its astrophysics work grapples with three main questions:

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Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to seek to understand the universe and our place in it.

The field explores topics such as the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. It has two sibling sciences, astronomy and cosmology, though the lines between these branches can blur.

In the most rigid sense

Astrophysics creates physical theories of small to medium-size objects and structures in the universe.

Astronomy measures the positions, luminosities, motions and other characteristics of celestial objects.

Cosmology covers the cosmos' largest structures and the universe as a whole.

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In practice, the three fields form a tight-knit family.

Ask for the position of a nebula or what kind of light it emits, and an astronomer might answer first. Ask what the nebula is made of and how it formed and an astrophysicist could pipe up. Ask how the data fit with the formation of the universe, and a cosmologist would probably jump in. Or they might all chime in to explore all three questions.

ASTROPHYSICS AT NASA

Astrophysicists seek to understand the universe and our place in it.

At NASA, the aims of its astrophysics work are "to discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars," according to NASA's website.

NASA states that its astrophysics work grapples with three main questions:

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IT BEGAN WITH ISAAC NEWTON

While astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, theoretical astrophysics began with Isaac Newton.

Prior to Newton, astronomers described the motions of "heavenly bodies," as they were then called, using complex mathematical models without a physical basis. Newton showed that a single theory, describing what we now know as gravity, simultaneously explains the orbits of moons and planets in space and the trajectory of a cannonball on Earth. This added to the body of evidence for the (then) startling conclusion that the "heavens" and Earth are subject to the same physical laws.