Fun Facts About Astronomy

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects like stars,comets, planets and galaxies. It is derived from Greek words astron and nomoswhich mean 'star' and 'law' respectively. It is related with formation anddevelopment of the universe, motion of celestial objects, evolution, physicsand chemistry.
Since the 20th century, the field of astronomy has got divided into twobranches: observational and theoretical. Observational astronomy emphasizes onacquiring and analyzing the data by using basic principles of physics.Whereas,theoretical astronomy focuses on the development of computer or analyticalmodels to explain astronomical objects and phenomena. Both these branches complementeach other. 

Fun Facts About The Sun
The sun is 4.5 billion years old and produces 383 billion trillion kilowatts ofenergy.Sunlight takes 8 minutes to reach the earth and is responsible for theocean currents and weather patterns on our planet.The earth orbits the sun inan elliptical uneven orbit and the distance between them varies depending onwhere the earth lies in that orbit.The sun is only an average size for a starbut still accounts for 98% of the total matter in our solar system.The solar windsproduced by the sun extend to about 50AU, where AU is the distance from the earthto the sun.The lightning in the sky is nearly 3 times hotter than the sun.
FunFacts About The Moon
The moon is the only non-Earth object upon which a man has walked.Dr. EugeneShoemaker's love for the moon was so much that after his death, his ashes werescattered over the moon by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft in 1999.The giantfootprint left on the moon dust by astronaut Neil Armstrong is believed to bethe oldest footprint.Every year the moon is moving away from the Earth by 3 cm.
FunFacts About Stars
There are nearly 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe.Some of the stars in the skyare so far that the light from them takes millions of years to reach us.ProximaCentauri is the closest star to our solar system and is nearly 4 light yearsaway.Inside the nebula, when gases and dust condense, a new object is formedwhich is known as protostar.Depending upon how hot the white dwarf star is, itscolor varies from blue, white, yellow or red.Supernova explosions are capableof destroying an entire star.
Pulsar, a neutron star which was discovered in 1967 emits radio waves.Polaris,the north star, is the only star in the sky that doesn't appear to move fromnight to night.
FunFacts About Planets
Mercury is the second smallest planet in the solar system and has no moon. Itcan get as hot as 800º C and cold as 300º C below zero. One year on Mercury isequal to 88 days on earth. It is named after the Roman God of Commerce.

Venus is the only planet that rotates from east to west. A year onthis planet is equal to 225 days on earth. Earth is nearly 93 million milesaway from the sun. It takes about 16 million horsepower to break the earth'sgravitational pull.According to scientists, in around 5 billion years, a day onearth will be 48 hours long and somewhere during that time the sun willexplode.
The planet Neptune was discovered more than150 years ago in 1846, and sincethen it still has to complete an orbit around the sun, as one Neptune yearequals to 165 Earth years.
Pluto does not have a fixed orbit and its orbit comes in the middle ofNeptune's orbit. Also, Pluto's size is very small which made scientists demotedit to a dwarf planet status.

Astronomy can be considered as an interesting science filled withmany fun and interesting facts. Whether it's the size or temperature of a star,the Sun, distant planets - anything and everything once discovered is recorded.This information can be retrieved to entertain and enlighten people.