Astronomy and Space Science

Classical space sciences are astronomy, space physics and planetary exploration, now the term also includes non-Earth planetary science from space, astrobiology and physical sciences in space and even space surveillance or space situational awareness. Space surveillance can be defined as the routine, operational service of detection, correlation, characterization, and orbit determination of space objects. Space Situational Awareness can be defined as a comprehensive knowledge of the population of space objects, of existing threats or risks on the space environment. It does not exist yet a well established classification of the subfields of space science.

Astronomy is a science driven by observations, with links to mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer sciences, geophysics, material science and biology. Astronomy is important for society and culture, and helps attract young people to the physical sciences. The field benefits from and also drives advances in technology. As a result, it is now possible to study objects which are so far away that they are seen at a time when the Universe was only five per cent of its present age and – perhaps even more astoundingly – to detect and characterize planets orbiting other stars, and to search for evidence of life.

In astronomy, information is mainly received from the detection and analysis of visible light or other spectral regions of the electromagnetic radiation, from gamma-ray to radio wavelengths. Some parts of the spectrum can be observed from the Earth's surface, while other parts are only observable from either high altitudes or outer space. There are few other things observed at Earth that originate from great distances: neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves.