Being oneself as well a part of surroundings and universe, human is always curious to know in detail about not only about his inner self but all about its relationship with outer world extended to astronomy and cosmology. Knowledge about astronomy and cosmology along with its application for the wellbeing of mankind has been the basis of mythology all over the world in general and Hindu mythology in particular as the oldest philosophy of life.
Our ancient knowledge of astronomy and cosmology however, remained constrained verbally and fewexamples of written text to a particular section of society and thus lost its acceptance with time. At present when Indian knowledge and application of astronomy and cosmology concepts in day to day life has become as a laughing stock, advanced countries with strong footing of research in these exciting areas of science have progressed very much ahead of us.Need is to popularize the teaching of these so called difficult and irrelevant topics of science and technology to younger generation.Technological development has made it possible to observe the astronomical and cosmological concepts and events with ease which were though not more than some natural phenomena some time back.
Why we are interested in studying the Astronomy, Astrophysics and cosmologyand solving the mysteries of our Universe?
Modern pursuits in understanding astronomy and cosmology
It started with the theory of relativity given by Albert Einstein in 1905. The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 was awarded to Albert Einstein "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect." At 26, the famous physicist explained the science behind consequences of relativistic motion as well as today's solar energy revolution.
Theory of Relativity
The theory explains the behaviour of objects in space and time, and it can be used to predict everything from the existence of black holes, to light bending due to gravity, to the behavior of the planet Mercury in its orbit.
Einstein’s theory of relativity is divided into two parts:
A New Window onto the Universe
The last six decades have witnessed a great revolution in astronomy, driven by improvements in observing capabilities across the electromagnetic spectrum: very large optical telescopes, radio antennas and arrays, a host of satellites to explore the infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray parts of the spectrum, and the development of key new technologies (CCDs, adaptive optics).Each new window of observation has brought new surprises that have dramatically changed our understanding of the universe.
Scientists are still trying to explore all mysteries of space with the help of scientific knowledge and technology in the field of astronomy, cosmology and space science as well as trying to imbibe the applications of relativity in daily life. Still there is a long way to go ahead to understand, explain and make to understand following mysteries of space.
Milestones of numerical solving
Numerical solving is a thousand-year-old art, which developed into modern numerical analysis several decades ago with the advent of modern computers and supercomputers. It is impossible to summarize all the important work on the subject but for a compelling account of the early history of numerical analysis and computing in the field of astronomy, cosmology and space science. There is a long list of numerically solving results leading towards the prediction and our better understanding of astronomy, cosmology and space.
When Einstein finalized his theory of gravity and curved space-time in November 1915, ending a quest which he began with his 1905 special relativity, he had little concern for practical or observable consequences. He was unimpressed when measurements of the bending of starlight in 1919 confirmed his theory. Even today, general relativity plays its main role in the astronomical domain, with its black holes, gravity waves and cosmic big bangs, or in the domain of the ultra-small, where theorists look to unify general relativity with the other interactions, using exotic concepts such as strings and branes.