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1、Chapter1Nakedeyeobservations1.1IntroductionTheetymologyoftheword‘Astronomy’impliesthatitwasthedisciplineinvolvedin‘thearrangingofthestars’.Todaywemightsaythatastronomyisourattempttostudyandunderstandcelestialphenomena,partofthenever-endingurgetodiscoverorderinnature.Wedonotk
2、nowwhowerethefirstastronomers—whatwedoknowisthatthescienceofastronomywaswelladvancedinpartsofEuropebythemiddleofthethirdmillenniumBCandthattheChinesepeoplehadastronomicalschoolsasearlyas2000BC.Inallages,fromtheburgeoningofman’sintelligence,therehavebeenpeoplefascinatedbythehe
3、avensandtheirchangingaspectandthesepeople,asfarastheirculturalenvironmenthasallowedthem,havetriedtoformulatecosmologies.Wearenodifferenttoday.Nowadays,theword‘Astrophysics’isalsousedtodescribethestudyofthecelestialbodies.Infact,manyastronomersusebothtermsquitegenerallyanditi
4、snotinfrequenttofindDepartmentsofAstronomyandAstrophysicswithineducationalestablishments.Thequestionmaywellbeasked‘WhatisthedifferencebetweenAstronomyandAstrophysics?’Veryloosely,Astronomymightbedefinedasthesubjectofthe‘whereandwhen’relatedtothedescriptionofacelestialbodywitht
5、he‘whyandhow’beingcoveredmorebyAstrophysics.Ratherthantryingtoprovideahardandfastrulefortheterminology,wewillsimplyuseAstronomytocoverallaspectsofthedescriptionoftheskiesandtheUniverse.IfourcurrenttheoriesoftheUniversearenearerthetruth,itisprobablynotthatourintelligencehasin
6、creasedinthepastsixmillennia.Itismorelikelythatthemainfactorhasbeenthediscoveryanddevelopmentofthe‘scientificmethod’,whichhasledtoourpresentcivilizationbasedonthefloodoftechnologicaladvantagesprovidedbythismethod.Thishasenabledscientistsinfargreaternumbersthaneverbeforetodevot
7、etheirlivestothestudyoftheheavens,assistedbytelescopes,computers,spacevehiclesandamultitudeofotherequipment.Theirattemptstointerpretandunderstandthewealthofnewinformationprovidedbythesenewinstrumentshavebeenaidedbyalliedsciencessuchasphysics,chemistry,geology,mathematicsands
8、oon.Wemustremember,however,thatformorethannine-tenthsofthelastfivethousandye
