Astrophysics

Astrophysics is a field of science that studies the physical properties of astronomical objects and phenomena in the universe. Astrophysics deals with objects in outer space as well as Earth. Sometimes, the name may change with astronomy because the scope of study is similar to modern times.

History

Astronomy is an ancient science, long separated from the study of terrestrial physics. In Aristotle's worldview, the objects in the sky looked like unchanging spheres and their only motion was uniform motion in a circle.

Meanwhile, the terrestrial world is a realm undergoing growth and decay, and its motion is in a straight line that ends when the object reaches its destination. It has been suggested that outer space is made of a different type of matter than that found in the terrestrial world; believed by Aristotle to be Aether, or as Fire by Plato.

During the 17th century, natural philosophers such as Galileo, Descartes, and Newton began to argue that the celestial and terrestrial regions were made of similar types of matter and were subject to the same laws of nature. Their challenge was that at that time no tools had been found to prove this statement.