Astronomy

   The main tasks of astronomy are:

   Examination and explanation of the apparent motion of celestial bodies, finding patterns and causes of these movements.

   Studying the structure of celestial bodies, their physical and chemical properties, modeling of their internal structure.

   Addressing origin and development of celestial bodies and their systems.

   The study of the most common properties of the universe, creation of a theory of the observable universe - Metagalaxy.

   Addressing these challenges requires the establishment of effective research methods - both theoretical and practical. The first problem is solved by long-term observation, began in ancient times, as well as the laws of mechanics, known for almost 300 years. Therefore, in the field of astronomy, we have the most information-rich, especially for relatively close to Earth's celestial bodies: the Moon, the Sun, planets, asteroids, etc.

   The second task was made possible due to the advent of spectral analysis and photos. The study of the physical properties of celestial objects began in the second half of the XIX century, as major problems - only in recent years.

   The third task requires the accumulation of the observed material. Currently, such data is not sufficient for accurate description of the origin and development of celestial bodies and their systems. Therefore, knowledge in this field are limited to only general considerations and a number of more or less plausible hypotheses.

   The fourth challenge is the largest and most complex. Practice shows that it is no longer sufficient existing physical theories. It is necessary to create a more general physical theory that can describe the state of matter and physical processes in the limits of density, temperature, pressure. To meet this challenge requires observational data in the Universe at distances of a few billion light years. Today's technical possibilities do not permit a detailed study of these areas. Nevertheless, the task now is the most relevant and astronomers successfully solved a number of countries, including Russia.