WHAT IS ASTRONOMY
from Old French astrenomie, from Latin astronomia,
from Greek astronomia, literally "star arrangement," from astron
"star" (see astro- ) + nomos "arranging, regulating,"
related to nemein "to deal out" (see numismatics ). Used earlier than
astrology and originally including it.
astronomy in Science Expand
The scientific study of the universe and the objects in it,
including stars, planets, nebulae, and galaxies. Astronomy deals with the
position, size, motion, composition, energy, and evolution of celestial
objects. Astronomers analyze not only visible light but also radio waves,
x-rays, and other ranges of radiation that come from sources outside the
Earth's atmosphere.
astronomy definition
The science that deals with the universe beyond the Earth.
It describes the nature, position, and motion of the stars, planets, and other
objects in the skies, and their relation to the Earth.
astronomy in the Bible Expand
The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the
starry firmanent (Amos 5:8; Ps. 19). In the Book of Job, which is the oldest
book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations are distinguished and
named. Mention is made of the "morning star" (Rev. 2:28; comp. Isa.
14:12), the "seven stars" and "Pleiades,"
"Orion," "Arcturus," the "Great Bear" (Amos 5:8;
Job 9:9; 38:31), "the crooked serpent," Draco (Job 26:13), the
Dioscuri, or Gemini, "Castor and Pollux" (Acts 28:11). The stars were
called "the host of heaven" (Isa. 40:26; Jer. 33:22). The oldest
divisions of time were mainly based on the observation of the movements of the
heavenly bodies, the "ordinances of heaven" (Gen. 1:14-18; Job 38:33;
Jer. 31:35; 33:25). Such observations led to the division of the year into
months and the mapping out of the appearances of the stars into twelve
portions, which received from the Greeks the name of the "zodiac."
The word "Mazzaroth" (Job 38:32) means, as the margin notes,
"the twelve signs" of the zodiac. Astronomical observations were also
necessary among the Jews in order to the fixing of the proper time for sacred
ceremonies, the "new moons," the "passover," etc. Many
allusions are found to the display of God's wisdom and power as seen in the
starry heavens (Ps. 8; 19:1-6; Isa. 51:6, etc.)