Depending on what you deem to be the beginning of science, astronomy might be the oldest science on earth – since the beginning of mankind people have been gazing in the starry sky and trying to figure out what is behind it. Since then great achievements have changed entire views of the world and at present we know a lot about our universe. the overwhelming fast achievements in techonology in the last century and the computing power in the hand of the average joe have made astronomy accesible for everyone.

Today we know a lot about different objects and phenomena in the universe (for example neutron stars and pulsars).

But not only that – it has become a lot easier to learn about astronomy for everybody. You don’t have to be a top expert scientest to see into the universe. There are a lot of very good computer programs and relatively cheap beginners equipment that enable everyone to deepen the knowledge about our universe (e.g. Microsoft World Wide Telescope. Many of tose resources are very affordable and quite a lot software products are even available for free.

But even if you are not interested in the science behind it, there is so much beauty in some of those pictures. The structures and colors seen on those pictures fascinate almost anyone who is confronted with them for the first time. Some of the best pictures can be found here: New Site for NASA Pictures

Discover the the versatility of astronomy, which is both – hobby and science. Like in art you can watch pictures or you can use it to train your brain with the math behind it.