Astronomy is a natural science that is the study of celestial objects (such as m oons, planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies),

the physics, chemistry, and evolut ion of such objects, and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Eart h, including supernovae explosions, gamma ray bursts, and cosmic background radi ation. A related but distinct subject, cosmology, is concerned with studying the universe as a whole.[1] Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures have left astronom ical artifacts such as the Egyptian monuments and Nubian monuments, and early ci vilizations such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese, Indians, Iranians and Maya performed methodical observations of the night sky. However, the invention of t he telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern sci ence. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astro physics.[2] During the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observat ional and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects, which is then analyzed using bas ic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented toward the developme nt of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenome na. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results and observations being used to confirm theoret ical results. Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active rol e, especially in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena. Amateur a stronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries. Astronomy is not to be confused with astrology, the belief system which claims t hat human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Althou gh the two fields share a common origin they are now entirely distinct.[3]