What is the purpose of astronomy?

[Chris Stacey]

Unfortunately olly I am not a great thinker and am unused to articulating my views. consequently I don't do it very clearly my comment about reproduction was a very poor attempt to express the point you made about a blindly mechanistic universe. Life it seems to me has only one imperative (at least on earth) and that is to survive. The drone bee copulates with the queen then dies but in doing so ensures its own immortality and that of the species by providing the genetic template for the next generation many other life forms on earth have similar charateristics or variations on it. to take a higher form of the same thing a person will run into a burning building to rescue their child. My question speculated that this may be the only purpose of life. To try and put it a little more clearly The only purpose of life is to live and every question we ask may be a meaningless construct or else it may be that there is a purpose other than that which we make ourselves. I'm sorry If I'm not clear I really am not very bright but I think that this is what I meant by questions outside the remit of science

Well for someone who say they are not a thinker or very bright....you articulated that very well!

[AliMac]

Actually, I wouldn't claim any depth of astronomical knowledge. I think that's partially the point. Consider this. Before I bought a telescope, I only had someone else's word for it that Jupiter has moons it that Saturn has rings. Now I have seen these things for myself. I had some friends over last weekend, and that was the thing they all found most affecting about looking through the scope.

[rowan46]

Actually, I wouldn't claim any depth of astronomical knowledge. I think that's partially the point. Consider this. Before I bought a telescope, I only had someone else's word for it that Jupiter has moons it that Saturn has rings. Now I have seen these things for myself. I had some friends over last weekend, and that was the thing they all found most affecting about looking through the scope.

Sorry that first comment came out a lot more sarcastic than it was meant my apologies.

[AliMac]

No worries! I didn't express myself brilliantly first time round.

[ollieholt]

I remember as a child, very vividly and I was quite young. I actually cried when I thought the following. I remember running to my mother an saying the following.

"I can't believe the world is so small! Is this the only place we can live!?"

It came from looking at a globe before travelling to America. I took for granted the never ending massive world and once I had seen the size of England compared to the rest of the world, I couldn't help but feel trapped! That emotion is still with me although not quite as a dramatic reaction occurs when musing upon it lol.

I saw Saturn for myself for the first time last night, I shared the moment with two friends who too had never gazed upon it. It was a brilliant feeling and these two buddies of mine were flabbergasted! There was high fives all around! Glee of the highest order spread like wildfire! All because of this tiny TINY Circe with two pointy bits either side is bad focus. It felt like a connection to a bigger thing, a larger space, a true sight that our world doesn't end after the clouds and it was uncanny. Joyous is how I would describe it, getting two friends who only an hour before going outside with my aldi spotting scope couldn't care less and had never really given the night sky a thought. I had loads of questions thrown at me about the solar system and the greater universe, interest burned within us all. It was magic.

[coxy63]

how

[Bazzaar]

Through poetry we find ourselves from within

through astronomy we find ourselves from without

that will be 4 pence please:)

Barry

[Skills]

I like to get a peak into the immensity and eternity of the universe, puts all life's smaller stuff into perspective!

Adrian

[AstroGnome]

I like to get a peak into the immensity and eternity of the universe, puts all life's smaller stuff into perspective!

Adrian

If life is going to exist in a universe this size, the one thing it cannot afford to have, is a sense of proportion (Douglas Adams)

[costeveol]

Astronomy is a way of understanding ourselves.

A man (or woman) can stand in his garden, stare up at the sky and the see the faint light from a glimmering star that left before his race even existed. That compared to shall I wear the red or the blue tie to work gives a little perspective on things.

[Si W]

To chill out and forget about the world and all it's problem's, also do something meaningful.