What are the benefits of astronomical research in everyday life ?
Astronomy Helps us find out about the Universe and our place within it. We also train people in modern technology; many who don’t eventually become astronomers go out into the “real world” and contribute to mainstream industry and the economy. Astronomical research also has important implications for other branches of science. For instance, we use stars as remote “laboratories” in which we can study matter under conditions that we just couldn’t achieve on Earth. This helps us refine our knowledge of fields such as atomic physics, which is vital in many fields with practical applications in everyday life. In our own group, we have developed sensitive x-ray detectors for astronomical research, and these detectors are currently being adapted for use in medical applications. How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future ? It’s impossible to say. But there are more people working in ever increasing groups with increasingly expensive technology. For example, I heard yesterday that
