Astronomy As The Future Of Mankind

Introduction

[1] Astronomy is defined as the study of Sun, Moon, Stars, Planets, Comets, Galaxies, Gas, Dust and other non-Earthly bodies and phenomena. Astronomy is defined by NASA as as the study of Stars, Planets and Space. A common historical misconception is that Astronomy and Astrology are the same terms but as a matter of fact astrology is not a science, and is no longer recognized.

Astronomy has concentrated historically on observations of celestial bodies. It's closely related to astrophysics. In short, astrophysics involves the study of astronomy physics and focuses on the behavior, properties and movement of objects. Modern astronomy, however, includes many elements of these bodies, motions and characteristics and the two terms are frequently used interchangeably today. This space revolution began immediately after the first moon landing in 1969 and by 2030 the industries plan to colonize our neighboring planet Mars.[2].

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Aim and Significance

Astronomy is the study of the universe and of the universe's objects and phenomena. The main objective of astronomers is to study a variety of topics, including planets, moons, galaxies, black holes, supernovae, astrobiology and universe origin and evolution. You can expect to learn about telescopes, space exploration, planets, moons, extrasolar planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe in Astronomy 101. Astronomy may be for you if you want an informed perspective when you look at the night sky. Our study focuses on providing knowledge to the people, and make them think out of the box. Disappointing to say that we are only taught that our planet is Earth and we are in the Milky -way galaxy, that’s it. Moreover our knowledge about our own universe is pretty scant.

Furthermore our research paper will provide ample knowledge about our Universe by telling the readers about the works of great scientists like Sir Albert Einstein and Professor Stephen Hawking. The industry of Astronomy in Pakistan is roughly non-existent, the only organization working here is SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Committee) and SUPARCO is self is not getting the funding which it requires. Internationally, organizations such as NASA, SpaceX and Mars-One are the most active in the field Astronomical research.

Research Question(s)

• How do you think Astronomy will impact the future of human race?
• How can we boost the aerospace industry in Pakistan?

Literature Review

[3] A review of E-Journal Article written by J. M. Bailey and T. F. Slater from Arizona University on Astronomy education. In this research paper, authors want to encapsulate and interpret the various astronomy education research projects to lay the groundwork for subsequent efforts. In order to limit the scope of this diverse field, they have made specific choices regarding the references here. In this paper, research is defined as those studies that attempt to methodically evaluate problems such as student conceptions on a subject or the effectiveness of a specific instructional or curriculum intervention. Apart from this definition and the scope of this paper, there are a number of additional works, including representations of innovative activities, curricula or teaching techniques; information on the National Science Education Standards of the National Research Council (NRC 1996, hereafter NSES); and articles on the teaching of the nature of science.

[4] A review of E-Journal Article written by E. Brogt, D. Sabers, E. E. Prather, T. F. Slater, G. L. Deming and B. Hufnagel, from the Astronomy education review University of Arizona. Seventy college course segments were inspected from the database of Astronomy Diagnostic Test (ADT) consequences of Deming and Hufnagel to decide whether course organize corresponded with ADT standardized gain scores. Standardized increases were determined for four distinctive classroom situations: address, address with exchange, address with lab, and address with both lab and dialog. Measurable examination demonstrates that there are no huge contrasts in standardized gain among oneself revealed classroom positions. Essentials identified with science courses showed contrasts in standardized gain. Of all announced course exercises, just the address and the readings for the course connect altogether with the standardized gain. This investigation proposes that the ADT might not have enough affectability to quantify contrasts in the viability of various course designs in light of the wide scope of points that the ADT addresses with few inquiries. Distinctive proportions of gain and their inclinations are examined. We contend that the utilization of the standardized gain isn't constantly justified a result of its solid inclination toward high pretest scores.

[5] A review of E-Journal Article written by E. Brogt from the Astronomy education review University of Arizona. This article depicts a contextual analysis of an employee who needed to change his early on space science course for non– science majors to incorporate more student focused instructional method. To enable him to accomplish this objective, he was helped by an instructional master and the creator. The educator moved toward the update of instructional style as a logical analysis. Utilizing meeting and perception information, the inspirations and desires for this teacher and the usage of the expert improvement are investigated. Results show that influencing science workforce to see their instructing as a logical investigation or examine undertaking might be a profitable road for expert improvement. Results indicate that proficient improvement for staff can profit by expert designers who are likewise all around vested in the substance territory educated.

[6] A review of E-Journal Article written by.This guide is designed to assist instructors who teach introductory astronomy. It is not a comprehensive but rather highlights a number of colleges that experienced teachers around the country have found useful. Suggestions for sites of general interest to add are welcomed. The practice was used to determine student learning normalized gain calculated for every student. A multiple ways to regression analysis was conducted to determine how ascribed characteristic. An academic achievement and student majors and the use of interactive learning in these classes we also asked the instructor of each class to complete survey we report on our analysis to complete data set including LSCI these result strongly illustrates that all category of students can benefit from the effective criteria.

Methodology

The research is based on the quantitative paradigm to analyze statistically the difference in opinions of divergent brains regarding astronomy. Our design is survey, we have used Google survey form as a tool to identify the student’s perception of heavenly bodies. All of the students were from the age group of 18-20. The identity of the students has been kept a secret keeping in mind the ethics and the professional behavior.

We have initially set a target of 200 responses. Due to our promotion we got 200 plus responses from the students, students also distributed our Google form to their colleagues by using social media as a platform.

The main purpose of our study was to create a better understanding of astronomy and to highlight the differences between astronomy & astrology among different university students. Astronomy is a science that studies everything outside of the earth's atmosphere, such as planets, stars, asteroids, galaxies; and the properties and relationships of those celestial bodies on the other hand astrology is the belief that the positioning of the stars and planets affect the way events occur on earth. To highlight this disparity among the students of Physics and Astronomy in Karachi University and NED University, we chose to distribute this survey in these departments because the students have more awareness regarding the field since they are already engaged in their degree programs and have a better understanding of pros and cons of this field.

We focused on taking ideas from the youth and ask whether or not they think that Pakistan’s position in the space race should be above or not. Moreover, the students believed that our scientific research sector should improve in order to keep with the world and making an image in the world of Astronomy.

When asking the participants on their opinion about the resources of our world, 73.2% people out of our participants believe that our world is soon going to run out of resources and we have to look forward in order to save the human race. This is currently in progress and space companies are currently planning to colonize Mars by 2030 [2].

When we asked the students that how can more awareness be created regarding astronomy, majority of the students responded by answering that there should be proper Seminars and Conferences. Moreover the students also said that we should use Social media and we could invite foreign Astronomers to our country in order to tell us about the industry in their own country. Furthermore we could invite NASA, Mars One and SpaceX for the funding of a proper school of Astronomy in our country.

The data that we collected from the students further helped us in modelling our research paper. There is no doubt at all that Pakistan is behind in the space race and our research focuses that how can we enhance our education system by giving opportunity to future sciences like Astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.

Conclusion

Astronomy surely plays a significant role in the future of human race, sooner or later we will run out of resources. In order to prevent a catastrophic doomsday scenario [5] we should think about finding a solution. Our solution lies in colonizing other Earth like planets in the Solar system such as Mars, it can be terraformed by exploding thermonuclear weapons and creating an artificial atmosphere [6]. Moreover especially crafted seeds and bacteria can be used to fertilize the soil of marks in order to establish a secure food source.

We can also look outside our solar system, planets such as Kepler 438b [7] which is an Earth-like exoplanet nearly the same size as Earth and orbits a star similar to our Sun.

Countries like the US, Russia, China and even our neighbor India have their readily active space programs and have a heavy budget for space related research. Private companies such as SpaceX and Mars One are also launching new satellite to make new discoveries. Unfortunately, Pakistan is way behind in the space race, although Pakistan has an active space program working under SUPARCO. [8] The last satellite that was launched by SUPARCO was a Remote Sensing Satellite in which China assisted Pakistan. The amount of funding SUPARCO receives is nothing compared to the top aerospace companies. So our purpose was to highlight the importance of Astronomy for our race and how can Pakistan boost its space program to make a name in the industry. We used Google forms and took ideas from the students studying in NED and Karachi University of the departments of Space Sciences and Physics because they are generally aware of the field and its job market. The participants responded to our survey and mostly agreed that Pakistan should hold more Seminars, Workshops and Presentations regarding Astronomy. Furthermore, Pakistan could also invite space companies to open a proper Astronomy School or an Astronomy University in order to boost the research. This type of survey based research on Astronomy hasn’t been done in Pakistan and our research aims to improve and make Pakistan a competitor in the space research.

References

1. N. T. Redd. (2017, Sept. 11). What is Astronomy? Definition & History [Online]. Available: https://www.space.com/16014-astronomy.html
2. H. Brueck. (2018, Mar. 1). When will we colonize Mars? [Online]. Available: https://www.businessinsider.com/when-will-we-colonize-mars-nasa-timeline-2030s-2018-2
3. J. M. Bailey and T. F. Slater. 2004. “A review of Astronomy education research”. The Astronomy Education Review. Volume 2, Issue 2, pp. 20-45. Available: https://goo.gl/KhsXmG
4. E. Brogt, D. Sabers, E. E. Prather, T. F. Slater, G. L. Deming and B. Hufnagel. 2007. “Analysis of the Astronomy Diagnostic Test”. The Astronomy Education Review. Volume 6, Issue 1. Available: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35470470.pdf
5. E. Brogt. 2008. “Regulations and Ethical Considerations for Astronomy Education Research”. The Astronomy Education Review. Volume 6, Issue 2, pp. 20-31. Available: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35470467.pdf
6. A. I. Rudolph, E. E. Prather, G. Brissenden, D. Congsinglio, V. Gongaza. 2010. “A National Astronomy study assessing the teaching and learning of Introductory Astronomy Part II: The Connection between Student Demographics and Learning”. The Astronomy Education Review. Available: http://www.cpp.edu/~alrudolph/professional/publications/rudolph_etal_aer09.pdf
7. Wikipedia. (2018, Apr. 6). Doomsday Scenarios [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Doomsday_scenarios
8. Wikipedia. (2018, Dec. 31). Terraforming of Mars [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars
9. Wikipedia. (2018, Dec. 28). Kepler-438b [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-438b
10. Wikipedia. (2018, Aug. 21). Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Remote_Sensing_Satellite