All Astronomy
Overview
stronomy,
can indisputably be considered the most grandiose and
majestic of all Natural Sciences as its objects of study
are all the celestial bodies (be they the planets, the
moons, the comets, the asteroids, the stars, the
galaxies, or the nebulae) with all the interstellar
matter accompanying them. Astronomy's aims are equally
grandiose as they seek to discover the nature, the
structure, the origin and the evolution of all celestial
objects and formations together with the phenomena
associated with them, some of dazzling splendor and
incredible beauty. The laws upon which the Universe
"functions" are the ultimate laws that Astronomy seeks to
discover and decipher and, joining hands with Physics in
this endeavor, an indestructible bond and partnership was
created. One of such fruits that was born as a result of
this special relationship was a new field of studies
called Astrophysics.
The beauty and
splendor of the skies have fascinated man from the moment
he first walked on Earth, and this fascination has never
left him. Such beauty and splendor could not have been
created by itself was believed, and still is believed by
many, but that it was the work of a Creator with divine
powers. How else, could one take into account the balance
and the harmony of heavens if it were not for such a
Creator? Out of such beliefs and bewilderment, culture
after culture of civilization has defined and worshiped
the image (or images) of such a Creator in a dazzling
array of forms and ways. Man's fascination with the
heavens continues now under the auspices of the Creator,
and this continuous fascination has made the study of the
heavens, and thus the study of Astronomy, the oldest
science on record.
The relationship
between the Church and Astronomy was a complex one.
Results from Astronomy such as the prediction of various
eclipses were widely used and sought by the Church.
Magnificent places of worship were also created
incorporating clear elements of studies gained from
Astronomy. On the other hand, studies of the heavens
which went outside of the religious teachings and were in
conflict with them, were crushed and supressed.
Because of this
suppression, for centuries and centuries, the advancement
of Astronomy nearly came to a standstill. Eventually,
revolutionary ideas were able to surface and be
implanted, challenging, first and foremost, the central
place which Earth was believed to have had within the
grand scheme of things in the Universe. The various
religious teachings were now being challenged in a direct
way by these new revolutionary ideas, setting thereby
Astronomy somewhat free from these preconceived religious
dogmas.
Astronomy, through
its branch Cosmology, began pursuing its own inquiries
into this most fascinating, perplexing and ancient
subject of all time: the origin and the evolution of the
Universe.
All of the various cosmological theories and
models proposed had one common denominator: the Creator
or God was left out from these considerations. No one
proclaimed the abandonment of God, as the Creator's place
was always assured to exist at least for the absolute
origins of things, but these new bold ideas advanced by
Cosmology were nevertheless viewed by many as a threat to
the religious teachings of "understanding" the
Universe.
Simultaneous with
the inroads that Cosmology was making, another branch of
Astronomy, Astrophysics, began making rapid advancements
into our understanding of the physical Universe. The
studies of the stars (most notably our Sun), of the
galaxies (most notably our Milky Way Galaxy), and of
the interstellar and intergalactic space began gaining
prominence, leading the way to all of the studies in
Astronomy. Celestial Mechanics, the oldest branch of
Astronomy --studying the motions and the dynamics of the
stars and galaxies, Planetary Astronomy --studying the
planets, the moons, the meteors, the asteroids, and the
comets of our Solar System, also evolve as mature
sciences leading us into the cosmic age of space
exploration. Finally, "specialty" astronomical sciences
such as X-Ray Astronomy, Spectral Astronomy or Radio and
Radar Astronomy opened new vistas of exploring the
vastness of the Cosmos.
Our
eleven (11) subject-sections plus The Hall of Fame
section, which can be accessed through the above
Navigational Bar located in the page's heading, are
designed to provide a comprehensive reference to the many
facets and ways of studying and investigating the
subjects of Astronomy. Aside from the two (2) Index
sections --one by Subject, the other by Author, and
three (3) Forum sections --The RealDeal®
Forum Letters, The RealDeal® Forum Chat
Rooms, and The RealDeal® Forum Workshops,
which are perhaps self-explanatory, the other remaining
six (6) sections need a further introduction as
follows.
A special section
entitled The RealDeal® List (and Auxiliary
List) of Most Wanted Solutions was designed to list and
emphasize what is not known or understood from the realm
of Natural Sciences in a way so as to attract both the
attention and the interest in further studying the topics
involved.
To continuously
emphasize and present, in a candid manner, what is not
known or understood from the vast number of subjects and
topics of Astronomy, is imperative for the continued
health of this ancient science. Pointing out the unknown,
is the first step in attracting and luring a new
generation towards careers in Astronomy. The stated
section entitled, The RealDeal® List (and
Auxiliary List) of Most Wanted Solutions, corresponding
to Astronomy, is designed for exactly this purpose, that
of identifying, defining, compiling, sorting, and
classifying the important, unresolved problems of the
variety of subjects involved in the hope that this will
spark attention and interest in finding the corresponding
answers and solutions.
The remaining
five (5) sections
1. The
RealDeal® Foundational
Inquiries;
2. The
RealDeal® Theoretical
Studies;
3. The
RealDeal® Discovery Reports;
4. The
RealDeal® Focus Line; and
5. The
RealDeal® Historical Scrutinies;
which form the
so-called Core sections of our publication are designed
to cover a wide range of issues involving Natural
Sciences and Philosophy, and a brief description of those
sections related to Astronomy is described below.
[Additional information is provided in the HomePage
of each section (which you can reach from our Science's
FrontPage site, by clicking on the corresponding
Icon-Button of each section located at the left side of
the respective title) as well as in the Astronomy part of
each section (which can be accessed from the
corresponding Navigational Bar of the respective section
located also in our Science's FrontPage.)]
1. Astronomy
because of the grandeur of its studies is more vulnerable
than any other Natural Science to theories incorporating
speculations at their foundation. Speculative theories,
as interesting as they may be, should never ever be
allowed to enter into the realm of Natural Sciences, but
rather, at best, should find a place into something that
may be called Pseudo Sciences, or Imaginative or
Fictional Sciences.
The human
Mind is equipped with a stunning faculty --that of
Imagination. We can imagine things, and this imagination,
when cultivated, can lead to spectacular imaginary
creations. We enter into trouble when we treat imaginary
results and creations as real, physical results. And when
such imaginary results are treated as reality
(i.e., considered to be outside our imagination
and existence), and when physical theories are built up
upon their premises, the results obtained are no longer
results that should rest within the body of Natural
Sciences, but they need to rest, as stated, elsewhere.
Imaginary concepts, such as the so-called "Big-Bang" and
the corresponding theories associated with it, the "black
hole" concept and the corresponding theories associated
with it, the "anti-matter" concept and the corresponding
theories associated with it, are only a few of the most
known and prevailing concepts and theories of "modern"
Astronomy. The imaginary foundation of these theories,
and others not mentioned in this Introduction, shall be
exposed in great detail in our Foundational Inquiries
section, as it is imperative for the survival of
Astronomy, as a credible science, to detach itself, in
its entirety, from the speculative theories that have
infiltrated and engulfed its entire theoretical body.
2. Studies of the major topics of Astronomy shall be
presented in The RealDeal® Theoretical Studies
section. In addition to the guidelines set up in our
Publication Policy page with respect to the style and
form of presentation, these studies need to be written in
a way, so as to attract the largest possible audience
interested in the subject at hand, in a non-technical
language, with an "eye" towards freshmen students, with
one and only one goal in mind:
to lure
and attract as many young students as possible into
pursuing a career in Astronomy.
To accomplish all
this, the style and form of presentation will be quite
different from anything else ever written on the subject
at hand because these studies, regardless of the
complexity of the subject involved will need to be
provocative --to provoke first and foremost the interest
in the subject itself. And second, you, the reader must
be introduced not only to the beauty and the complexity
of the subject involved, but also, and most importantly,
to the shortcomings of the theory or subject described.
These shortcomings, if properly implanted, will spring
into fresh ideas and approaches to the subject at
hand.
3. Notable
discoveries in Astronomy will be reported in our
RealDeal® Discovery Reports section, through a
process involving four (4) phases, as
follows,
i)
[?] The
Status Phase
Immediately, upon
learning of a discovery in Astronomy that appears to be
significant (in the sense that the said discovery appears
to confirm or upset a theory currently in use), we shall
report such a discovery in the following
manner:
a) If the discovery
is theoretical in nature, we shall first attempt to get a
non-technical version of it from the author(s). If that
attempt fails, we may still try to get a non-technical
version from other sources. If that attempt fails as
well, we will place it into a special category of reports
entitled The Unattainable Discovery Reports. If on
the other hand, the said theoretical discovery can be
presented in a non-technical language, it shall be placed
into a different category entitled The Probable
Discovery Reports.
b) If the discovery
is experimental or observational in nature, we shall
first attempt to get the details about the experiment in
a non-technical language together with the results that
it claims to prove from the author(s). If that attempt
fails, we may still try to get a non-technical version
from other sources. If that attempt fails as well, we
will place it into a special category of reports
entitled, as noted above, The Unattainable Discovery
Reports. If on the other hand, the said experimental
discovery can be presented into a non-technical language,
it shall be placed into the category entitled, as noted
above, The Probable Discovery Reports. Also if an
experimental discovery reported cannot be duplicated
elsewhere, and credible reports on this become available,
the said discovery reported will be placed at once under
the stated category of The Unattainable Discovery
Reports.
Only discoveries
from The Probable Discovery Reports will continue
to receive our attention. The Unattainable
discovery reports, at any time, may be converted into the
Probable category if the stated conditions are
met, but if this conversion does not take place within
one (1) year, they will be permanently removed from
our site.
ii)
[!] The
Scrutiny Phase
The discoveries
from The Probable Discovery Reports will enter,
after a 30-day period, into a second phase of their
existence, known as The Scrutiny Phase. This phase which
shall last one (1) year, and upon good reason can be
extended, will be the phase in which the veracity of a
reported discovery shall be meticulously investigated and
examined. If the challenges posed and accumulated appears
to be lethal or formidable to overcome, for a particular
reported discovery, the said discovery will be placed
into the Unattainable category (as discussed
above). If no serious challenges were able to be mounted
against the discovery in question, at the end of
one (1) year, the said discovery will get a
RealDeal Pass and will be placed into
The RealDeal Interim Discovery Reports
section.
iii)
[=]
The Defining Phase
The Interim
discoveries, after a 30-day period, will enter, for 60
days, into what is called the Defining Phase. As a result
of the challenges received during the Scrutiny Phase, the
author(s) of the discovery may want to redefine and
perhaps further clarify their discovery, defining thus
even better the discovery in question.
iv)
[/\] The
Disposition Phase
With the Defining
Phase over, a reported discovery, will permanently enter
into the RealDeal "Hall Of Fame". A "Hall of Fame"
discovery shall always stay and be posted in our
site.
To unseat a "Hall
of Fame" discovery, the process will involve the
accumulation of compelling evidence pointing away from
the discovery in question, as follows:
-For experimental
results, a proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" must exist
to establish the existence of fraud and/or
misrepresentation of data in support of a particular
research. Upon such proof, the said discovery reported
shall be removed from the "Hall of Fame" page and, shall
be placed permanently into The RealDeal "Hall Of
Shame" page.
-For theoretical
discoveries to be unseated, a theoretical proof which
annihilates and/or eliminates the old result(s) must
exist, or alternatively, a fundamental logical error in
the proof of the theory must be found to exist. In such a
situation, the said theoretical result will be removed
from our site, with no trace or reference to be found, as
if it were never published.
Finally, when an
experiment or observation contradicts an established
theoretical result, this, in itself, will not be able to
unseat the said contradicted theoretical result, but a
warning of the apparent conflict will be posted and
placed into a new category entitled The Unresolved
"Hall Of Fame" Discoveries. In all probability, the
apparent scientific conflict created will be posted in
our List (or Auxiliary List) of Most Wanted Solutions
section.
4. Science, as
anything else in life, to be able to flourish in a given
Society and Culture must be able to have the necessary
support. But what is actually "necessary" is not as
simple to answer as perhaps it may seem. Issues of this
sort affecting the complex relationships between
Astronomy (with its Space Exploration Programs and
Projects) and Society will be explored from different
viewpoints in our section entitled
The RealDeal® Focus Line. Also there,
issues involving the antagonism, real or imaginary,
between Astronomy and Religion will be presented from
various perspectives and points of view.
5.Historical and
biographical studies in Astronomy shall be covered in our
RealDeal® Historical Scrutinies section. The
central focus of these studies will be to adhere as much
as possible to the Historical Truth and separate myths
from reality. This historic scrutiny is essential for
protecting and defending the Historical Truth related to
the History of Astronomy, a field not fully matured and
independent --as an academic field of inquiry and
research. These studies to be presented herein are
intended to act as academic historical filters which
should be able to set new standards of research into the
History of Science. It is because of all this, that the
historical material published herein will be quite
different, both in its scope and form of
presentation.
With respect to our
two (2) Forum sections mentioned at the beginning of
this overview presentation, which are listed in our
FrontPage science site as the last two (2) sections,
we may want to mention here the following:
·
In The RealDeal® Forum Letters, we will
present selected letters received from our readers with
respect to the variety of issues that are being covered.
Issues which do not pertain to the subjects covered
herein will not be considered for publication in any form
or fashion, although we will read all mail received and,
when appropriate, we may respond in kind.
·
Finally, in
The RealDeal® Forum Chat Rooms we shall
organize science events from a variety of topics and
issues for debates.