Astrophysics

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Astrophysics

What is Astrophysics?


Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to explain the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. It has two sibling sciences, astronomy and cosmology, and the lines between them blur.

In the most rigid sense:

  • Astronomy measures positions, luminosities, motions and other characteristics
  • Astrophysics creates physical theories of small to medium-size structures in the universe
  • Cosmology does this for the largest structures, and the universe as a whole.

Goals of astrophysics

Astrophysicists seek to understand the universe and our place in it. At NASA, the goals of astrophysics are "to discover how the universe work, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars," according NASA's website.

NASA states that those goals produce three broad questions:

  • How does the universe work?
  • How did we get here?
  • Are we alone?

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