Modern astronomers gather data with electronic cameras, equipped with CCD devices, and monitor invisible radiation as well as visible rays. Their instruments gather light emitted thousands, millions and sometimes even billions of years in the past, producing a spectacular portrait of a dynamic cosmos. Recent decades have yielded a bounty of important astronomical discoveries, including the detection of the first known planets beyond the Solar System, the imaging of black holes in distant galaxies, the probing of invisible matter, and the finding that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Truly, we are living in a wondrous age to survey the stars. At the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, a university dedicated to shaping the science of health, we view astronomy with an added perspective.
Space is a vital laboratory for understanding how earthly conditions influence life and health.
In recent years, astronauts have probed how zero gravity and low gravity conditions influence bodily function, how the absence of 24 hour cycles affect sleeping and waking patterns, and other interesting issues concerning health in space. Moreover, as we probe the nearby planets and scan light from the distant stars, we are faced with additional, more fundamental, questions. Soon, astronomers hope to learn the answer. Life is precious, whether it is unique to Earth or abundant throughout the stars. The more we learn about our inconceivably vast universe, the more we realize the value of its living inhabitants.