The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science:
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, meteoroids, asteroids, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole.
The Uppsala Astronomical Observatory (UAO), Astronomiska observatoriet i Uppsala) is the oldest astronomical observatory in Sweden. It was founded in 1741, though there was a professorial chair of astronomy at the University of Uppsala from 1593 and the university archives include lecture notes in astronomy from the 1480s.
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space–what they are, rather than where they are", which is studied in celestial mechanics.
Vladimir Georgiev Shkodrov was a Bulgarian astronomer and professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is one of the founders of the Bulgarian National Observatory in Rozhen and authored numerous scientific and popular articles and books on planetary physics and astronomy.
The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), previously known as the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is an astrophysics research institute jointly operated by the Harvard College Observatory and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, the CfA leads a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics, Earth and space sciences, as well as science education. The CfA either leads or participates in the development and operations of more than fifteen ground- and space-based astronomical research observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the forthcoming Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, one of NASA's Great Observatories.
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869.
The Astronomical Observatory of Belogradchik or Belogradchik Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It is located near the town of Belogradchik in northwestern Bulgaria, at the foot of the Western Balkan Mountains. The other observatory operated by the same institute is the Rozhen Observatory.
Astronomical Observatory of Trieste is an astronomical center of studies located in the city of Trieste in northern Italy.
The Astronomical Observatory of Rome is one of twelve Astronomical Observatories in Italy. The main site of the Observatory is Monte Porzio Catone. Part of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica since 2002.
The Institute of Astronomy of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, known prior to 1 October 2019 in scientific publications as the Toruń Centre for Astronomy, is an optical and radio observatory located at in Piwnice, about 15 km north of Toruń, Poland. It houses two single-dish antenna telescopes, 32 metres and 15 metres in diameter, as well as the largest Polish optical telescope – 90 cm Schmidt-Cassegrain camera. The facility is operated by the Nicolaus Copernicus University. Also, photometry using 60 cm Cassegrain telescope is made and radio measurements of the Sun at 127 MHz frequency have been recorded on a daily basis since 1958 using a 23 m interferometer.
Rozhen Observatory, also known as the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory, located in the Smolyan Province, 90 kilometers south of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The nearest town, Chepelare, is 15 kilometers away. The observatory is owned and operated by the Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). It was officially opened on 13 March 1981, almost 20 years after Bogomil Kovachev – a professor of astronomy at BAS, known as its founder – had started working towards that goal. The Observatory is the one of the largest in Southeastern Europe and has an active team of about 50 astronomers. It is the principal center for astronomical research in Bulgaria. The minor planet 6267 Rozhen, was discovered at, and named after the observatory.
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is a German research institute. It is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam (AOP) founded in 1874. The latter was the world's first observatory to emphasize explicitly the research area of astrophysics. The AIP was founded in 1992, in a re-structuring following the German reunification.
The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy is one of twelve faculties at the University of Heidelberg. It comprises the Kirchhoff Institute of Physics, the Institute of Physics, Theoretical Physics, Environmental Physics and Theoretical Astrophysics.
Science and technology in Bulgaria is carried out in a variety of institutions, largely dominated by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and several universities.
The Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences is a scientific institute headquartered at the Ondřejov Observatory, roughly 35 km southeast of Prague, Czech Republic.
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is a research institute in Nainital, Uttarakhand, India which specializes in astronomy, solar physics, astrophysics and atmospheric science. It is an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The institute is situated at Manora Peak (elevation 1,951 m or 6,401 ft), about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Nainital, headquarters of Kumaon division.
Louise Olivia Violet Edwards is a Canadian astronomer and associate professor of physics at California Polytechnic State University, and is one of the first Black Canadians to receive a PhD in astronomy. In 2002, she was pictured on a Canadian stamp.
Petr Heinzel is a Czech astronomer and professor who is specialized in solar physics. From 2004 to 2012, he was director of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Charles University, Czech Republic. Since 2017, he is chair of the Czech Astronomical Society. He is also a member of the International Astronomical Union.
The Astronomical Observatory of Lviv University is the astronomical observatory of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Lviv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1771 by the Jesuit college of Lviv, which makes it the 17th oldest observatory in Europe. It was closed around 1783 and restored as part of Lviv University in 1900 as the Astronomical Institute and again as the Observatory in 1912. Operations were interrupted by the Second World War, after which the Observatory became part of the University of Lviv in 1945. Research at the observatory encompasses observational and theoretical studies in cosmology, relativistic astrophysics, and stellar astrophysics.
