From AsTroNomy to OuTer SpAce.... I dream a little.

Interacting galaxies
http://hubblesite.org/

It is hard to be interested in astronomy if you were born in a tropical, seasonless country! There is a glaring reason, if you want to watch the stars and other heavenly bodies you have to do it at night, on a cloudless sky. Imagine many, many years ago, how could our ancestors be interested in watching the stars when there were plenty of mosquitoes around at night? And the heavy tropical rain and sky full of clouds! And those wild beasts waiting to pounce on them... it was better to stay in the caves and be safe.

Now, consider the wandering Bedouins, traveling in the desert, when they looked skyward on cloudless night, they could see those twinkling stars which could have provoked their interests and challenged them to study the heavenly bodies. Remember the story of the three wise men who used the stars to guide them in their journey to Bethlehem? That is why I think, the Arabs were among the earliest astronomers. Their legendary knowledge was somehow acquired by the intelligent westerners who went on to study and develop outer space technology with spin offs such as the satellite technology, wireless communication and GPS (global positioning satellite). The world has benefited a lot from man's curiosity and quest for knowledge beyond mother earth.

Astronomy is the study of stars and planets and going outer space is attempting to reach them and unravelling their mysteries as well as fulfilling that inner need of finding out whether there are other living things out there in the universe beside us.

I had wanted to study astronomy once but I guess I was born at the wrong time and in the wrong place where priorities,level of technology and career chances and recognition are just not there. So here I am in the dreamworld and could only afford to read with awe about NASA activities and the accomplishments of Hubble, that wonderful space telescope, faithfully transmitting back, out-of- this -world views to us.