Astronomy, because of its very nature, has been one of the ancient branches of knowledge. The sky has guided humans on their daily endeavours since the dawn of civilisation (perhaps even before) and we have looked up at the sky in wonder pondering about our own origin and that of the Universe. That sense of wonder has given rise to this vibrant field of study today. Unfortunately, that early beginning is also the reason the practitioners find it difficult to disentangle their scientific study from the soothsaying practise of Astrology in popular perception.
The trouble does not end there. Astronomy is the only physical science where it is not possible to set up one's own laboratory experiment. Instead we must make do with the information coming from the sky in the form of electromagnetic waves (and the awfully-difficult-to-detect gravitational waves). It takes the whole of known physics (and then some) to decode these signals. Also, we can only 'see' the visible light and the radio waves from our ground-based observatories, everything else (X-ray, gamma-ray..) gets completely messed up by our atmosphere.
Optical (visible light) Astronomy has become progressively difficult with the advent of big cities. Light pollution has ended the career of many a research observtories of yesteryear, relegating them to the status of outreach or student project instruments.
And now the sky is up for sale. It is the next frontier for the advertising world. Coca-cola and McDonald would now jostle for space up there. The children of future would have to take a space shuttle to the orbit to get his/her first glimpse of the Orion or the Great Bear. The new age grandmothers and mothers would no longer tell their young ones the story of the seven sages that mark the constellation of 'Saptarshi' (as Great Bear is known in India) - stories connecting the sky to the mytholoical beginning of human culture. Astronomy is going to change; so is our cultural perspective. 😔
Picture Courtesey : Daily Mail, UK
