Astronomy is a science pertaining to celestial objects like planets, stars, moons, the galaxy and the outer cosmos as such. It includes the study all  phenomena  out side of the precincts of planet earth. It also includes the study of formation, growth and the characteristics of the celestial objects in particular and the universe along with everything else that it encompasses, broadly speaking.

Apparently, Astronomy is a very ancient science and dates back to early civilizations whence they observed the night sky with rapt attention and performed systematic observations. Certain artifacts have other pieces of interest have been known to be found dating back to these civilizations. The invention of the telescope, however, has lead the way to Modern Astronomical science as we know it. It bears the distinction of being the only science where rookies have a major role to play in some of the most important discoveries regardless of the number of years the amateur has been involved in the field. As a matter of fact most of the major breakthroughs and discoveries have been done by amateurs alone.

Astronomy is not to be confused with Astrology - a pseudoscience dealing with the future of human beings based on the inclination of their birth with respect to planetary positions and stars. Though both the sciences have a common ground, they are still largely different. Astronomy is a vast science has major sub-categories like Galactic Astronomy, Solar Astronomy, Stellar Astronomy, Planetary sciences, Cosmology, Amateur Astronomy and much more.

There have been a lot of breakthroughs so far and the field of Astronomy has made rapid advances in its scope and dimensions. However, there are still a lot of questions that enthrall the community dedicated to studies on celestial objects and the Universe as a whole. There are still some grey areas concerning dark matter, black-holes, super nova explosions, the origin of the Universe, the ultimate fate of the Universe and a lot more. There have also been a lot of questions raised based on pseudo scientific rumours if there could be more earth-like planets else where in the universe, if there could be life elsewhere, as to how we earthlings relate to the rest of the galaxy and a lot more. We even have questions un-answered about the status of Pluto with respect it being a planet at all. Efforts have been on trying to fathom of there could be a possibility of life on planet Mars.

The science of Astronomy could be just as vast as the universe itself and it could take years for us to figure out the authenticity of the information we seem to gather. Its sheer scope of study and its larger-than-life aspects have grasped our imagination centuries and its mystery is expected to engage more and more astronomers well into the future.