<p>Understanding how things work out in space is only half the fun;
the other half is seeing them with your own eyes.
Field guides by
<a href="http://web.williams.edu/Astronomy/fieldguide/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pasachoff</a>
and others can help bring the two together.
Magazines like <a href="http://www.skyandtelescope.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sky &amp; Telescope</a>
offer information about temporarily observable objects like comets
and cover science news at level between mass media and academic journals.</p>

<p>Hands-on observing experience can motivate programming projects in ways that textbooks can't.
Given the free availability of such good software as <a href="http://stellarium.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Stellarium</a> and <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">JPL HORIZONS</a>,
and libraries like <a href="http://www.astropy.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Astropy</a>,
it's wise not to spend much time reinventing wheels.
On the other hand, implementing a few things yourself will expose you to various astronomy, math, algorithm, and data structure issues.
You can always check your work against off-the-shelf tools, or better yet, against the real sky.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T17:06:59.427Z
2018-04-18T17:06:59.427Z
Mike G
<p>If you're like me and you just want lots of interesting facts about space without all of the academic level of complexity, you may enjoy watching the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rHUDWjR5gg&amp;list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPAJr1ysd5yGIyiSFuh0mIL" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Crash Course Astronomy</a> series. There are a lot of other good resources on YouTube, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/DeepSkyVideos" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Deep Sky Videos</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/tdarnell" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Deep Astronomy</a>.  </p>

<p>If you want something more fun and interactive, may I suggest playing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerbal_Space_Program" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kerbal Space Program</a>. I've learned a lot about how orbital mechanics, aerodynamics, and engineering just from playing this game. There is a question on the <a href="https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/22834/what-can-the-ksp-game-actually-teach-about-spaceflight-and-orbital-mechanics-an">Space Exporation Stack Exchange</a> that does a good job of covering how much can be learned from playing.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T17:31:54.173Z
2018-04-18T17:31:54.173Z
Cody
<p>If you want to know about stars, i.e., astronomy or astrophysics, <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0805304029" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Caroll &amp; Ostlie</a> is somewhat fundamental textbook for undergrad &amp; grad.</p>

<p>If you want to know about galaxy and universe, i.e., cosmology, we use the textbook from <a href="http://carina.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/extragalactica/Bibliografia/Ryden_IntroCosmo.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ryden</a>.</p>

<p>My recommendation is to understand stars first, before you deal with galaxy, and then universe.</p>

<p>You will encounter a lot of physics stuff, which you might need to study separately out of just the concepts of astronomy or cosmology, if you want to have deep understanding of the topics.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T14:34:00.143Z
2018-04-18T14:34:00.143Z
Kornpob Bhirombhakdi
<p>To me it sounds that you just want to expand your astronomical knowledge and are not actually looking for a career advice.</p>

<p>I would suggest to just start with reading popular science books. 
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Evolution_(book)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Evolution_(book)</a> , 
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Brief_History_of_Time" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Brief_History_of_Time</a> for example. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T05:59:21.527Z
2018-04-18T05:59:21.527Z
Moondefender
<p>I have completely no idea about astronomy, but I am starting growing interest in it as I have been always wondering on what has been discovered out there and since I am studying CS, maybe I will learn more than I think as CS and astronomy as relative to some point. How should I start? Can you suggest me a good website for example or something else?</p>

<p>(I know this is an opinion - based question but still I need to make this question here).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T19:56:11.767Z
Sorry, this question is too broad, and as you say opinion based.
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T20:05:23.400Z
Please explain what  CS is?
Dr Chuck
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T23:06:39.813Z
It can be fun to write code that does simple astronomical calculations. But to do high quality 
accurate programs takes a lot of work and knowledge. Fortunately, there are great free astronomy software libraries available, so you don't have to write everything from scratch, but you still need to understand what you're doing. ;)
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T23:17:04.440Z
If you are young, you can start some astronomy study beside the CS. The astronomy worths much more, even if it is not a monetary worth. You will see it.
peterh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T23:20:18.733Z
IMHO, a good starting point for someone who's doing computer science who wants to combine it with astronomy is to learn about the different kinds of time used in astronomy and how they're related to one another. Eg, sidereal time, mean solar time vs apparent solar time, etc. Also start learning about the celestial sphere and the various astronomical coordinate systems. True, this material can be a bit dry, and sometimes confusing, but you need a solid foundation if you want to get into astronomical computing.
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T18:37:59.593Z
I'm not up on all the ins and outs, but can this be moved to meta rather than closed, or is there some sub-section where this can go?   I hate to see a sincere question that people obviously want to answer, closed because it's not pure astronomy, though this one has answers, so a close wouldn't be so bad, but I think finding another area for questions like this would be better.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T18:45:04.320Z
@userLTK Maybe making an appropriate tag would be a good idea.
Κωνσταντίνος Κορναράκης
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T18:51:31.613Z
@ΚωνσταντίνοςΚορναράκης the tag would still be outside mainstream astronomy, but maybe a sub-group.   Something along those lines.   Just putting the idea out there.   (and don't feel bad if this gets closed, questions like this usually get closed).
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T19:39:40.800Z
@userLTK I know...this kind of questions are treated the same in all SE forums. Still, there should be an area for this kind of questions as they seem to get attention (like now). However, i got enough answers here so everything is fine!
Κωνσταντίνος Κορναράκης
<fundamental-astronomy>
Tips for a beginer who wants to learn more about astronomy
Κωνσταντίνος Κορναράκης
# Tips for a beginer who wants to learn more about astronomy

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-17)

I have completely no idea about astronomy, but I am starting growing interest in it as I have been always wondering on what has been discovered out there and since I am studying CS, maybe I will learn more than I think as CS and astronomy as relative to some point. How should I start? Can you suggest me a good website for example or something else?

(I know this is an opinion - based question but still I need to make this question here).

**Tags:** fundamental-astronomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Sorry, this question is too broad, and as you say opinion based.  
> **username_2**: Please explain what  CS is?  
> **username_3**: It can be fun to write code that does simple astronomical calculations. But to do high quality  accurate programs takes a lot of work and knowledge. Fortunately, there are great free astronomy software libraries available, so you don't have to write everything from scratch, but you still need to understand what you're doing. ;)  
> **username_4**: If you are young, you can start some astronomy study beside the CS. The astronomy worths much more, even if it is not a monetary worth. You will see it.  
> **username_3**: IMHO, a good starting point for someone who's doing computer science who wants to combine it with astronomy is to learn about the different kinds of time used in astronomy and how they're related to one another. Eg, sidereal time, mean solar time vs apparent solar time, etc. Also start learning about the celestial sphere and the various astronomical coordinate systems. True, this material can be a bit dry, and sometimes confusing, but you need a solid foundation if you want to get into astronomical computing.  
> **username_5**: I'm not up on all the ins and outs, but can this be moved to meta rather than closed, or is there some sub-section where this can go?   I hate to see a sincere question that people obviously want to answer, closed because it's not pure astronomy, though this one has answers, so a close wouldn't be so bad, but I think finding another area for questions like this would be better.  
> **username_0**: @username_5 Maybe making an appropriate tag would be a good idea.  
> **username_5**: @username_0 the tag would still be outside mainstream astronomy, but maybe a sub-group.   Something along those lines.   Just putting the idea out there.   (and don't feel bad if this gets closed, questions like this usually get closed).  
> **username_0**: @username_5 I know...this kind of questions are treated the same in all SE forums. Still, there should be an area for this kind of questions as they seem to get attention (like now). However, i got enough answers here so everything is fine!  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2018-04-18. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

To me it sounds that you just want to expand your astronomical knowledge and are not actually looking for a career advice.

I would suggest to just start with reading popular science books.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Evolution_(book)> ,
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Brief_History_of_Time> for example.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2018-04-18. Score: 3

Understanding how things work out in space is only half the fun;
the other half is seeing them with your own eyes.
Field guides by
[Pasachoff](http://web.williams.edu/Astronomy/fieldguide/)
and others can help bring the two together.
Magazines like [Sky & Telescope](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/)
offer information about temporarily observable objects like comets
and cover science news at level between mass media and academic journals.

Hands-on observing experience can motivate programming projects in ways that textbooks can't.
Given the free availability of such good software as [Stellarium](http://stellarium.org/) and [JPL HORIZONS](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi),
and libraries like [Astropy](http://www.astropy.org/),
it's wise not to spend much time reinventing wheels.
On the other hand, implementing a few things yourself will expose you to various astronomy, math, algorithm, and data structure issues.
You can always check your work against off-the-shelf tools, or better yet, against the real sky.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-04-18. Score: 2

If you're like me and you just want lots of interesting facts about space without all of the academic level of complexity, you may enjoy watching the [Crash Course Astronomy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rHUDWjR5gg&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPAJr1ysd5yGIyiSFuh0mIL) series. There are a lot of other good resources on YouTube, such as [Deep Sky Videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/DeepSkyVideos) or [Deep Astronomy](https://www.youtube.com/user/tdarnell).

If you want something more fun and interactive, may I suggest playing [Kerbal Space Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerbal_Space_Program). I've learned a lot about how orbital mechanics, aerodynamics, and engineering just from playing this game. There is a question on the [Space Exporation Stack Exchange](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/22834/what-can-the-ksp-game-actually-teach-about-spaceflight-and-orbital-mechanics-an) that does a good job of covering how much can be learned from playing.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2018-04-18. Score: 2

If you want to know about stars, i.e., astronomy or astrophysics, [Caroll & Ostlie](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0805304029) is somewhat fundamental textbook for undergrad & grad.

If you want to know about galaxy and universe, i.e., cosmology, we use the textbook from [Ryden](http://carina.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/extragalactica/Bibliografia/Ryden_IntroCosmo.pdf).

My recommendation is to understand stars first, before you deal with galaxy, and then universe.

You will encounter a lot of physics stuff, which you might need to study separately out of just the concepts of astronomy or cosmology, if you want to have deep understanding of the topics.


---

