Have you ever finally given in to temptation and read your horoscope in the newspaper on Sunday morning? OK,OK, fewer and fewer people read the Sunday newspaper. But even on the net there are astrology websites and astrology columns all over the place. Even in places you would never expect them

Anyhow, sure, we all have given in to that temptation and taken a sneak peek. For most of us, it’s a curiosity, an amusement to see what the swamis say our day will be like based on the sign of the zodiac that we were born under. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that this small diversion is really part of an ancient science called astrology and that it had a powerful effect on many cultures dating back to most ancient times.

To a student of astronomy, the confusion between astronomy and astrology can be pretty annoying. The small difference in spelling causes some people a lot of confusion. Actually, in early civilizations around the world the two disciplines were not separate. A simple way of putting it is that astrology was the religious face of the science of astronomy.

So what changed? In the Western world the most significant shift took place in the second century C.E. when Ptolemy of Egypt (who might have been Greek, Egyptian or Roman) wrote a book on ’scientific’ astrology called the Tetrabiblos. He had previously written a larger book on classical astronomy. The theory he espoused in that book was so influential that for more than a thousand years after his death most Western sailors followed his system as a method of guiding their ships at sea.

In the Tatrabiblos he advocated that astronomy should be considered a separate discipline from astrology. His outlook on astrology was quite practical. He felt astrology was useful but not something to be relied on completely. In addition to the obvious issues like the sun, moon and stars he thought there were other things which influenced an individual’s personality, like race, country of origin and childrearing. He accepted the idea that heavenly bodies could influence events on Earth, like the tides. So by extension they might also influence people. But he was never rigid or fixed about this belief.

Over the almost 2000 years since Ptolemy astronomy has come a long way. Ptolemy might not recognize what has happened to his favorite field in the intervening time. For example, one of his favorite ideas, the idea that the earth is the center of the universe, has not withstood the test of time. It is also possible he might not recognize the place of astrology in society in the years between.

Astrology has also been studied for a very long time in other societies, such as India and China. To this day astrology has an important role in Indian society. For the sake of tradition, in India most people schedule auspicious events like weddings at times when their astrological readings tell them to go ahead.

What can devotees of astronomy conclude about the close relationship between astrology and astronomy? At one time in Western history the two fields fed off each other. That is to say, much astronomic research was done because of the support, material and otherwise, of followers of astronomy. That is no longer the case. Neither should that be a reason for animosity. On some topics astronomers and astrologists can barely talk to each other. But for the sake of a civil society it is best not to stir up strife. So maybe the best thing to do is allow each side to go their own way and appreciate the vastness and beauty of heavenly bodies each to their own.

Noo Yawka is forced by his stars to be very skeptical of astrology. His stars also make him maintain some interesting websites which explore the issue. You want to click on the website Readings to see where he goes. You can be drawn into this discussion too if you give it a try. Then again, maybe your stars won’t let you.

Before Galileo turned his telescope toward the night sky the act of astronomy was pretty much an astrological pursuit where objects and motions of object in the sky were explained using ancient and archaic understandings of the universe and how it works.

But he didn’t just observe and note new objects in the sky. He applied scientific methods, mathematical laws, and logical thinking to what he observed and it is this cross discipline approach that created the modern science of observational astronomy.

Galileo is often thought of as inventing the telescope. He didn’t invent the telescope but he was the first person to turn one toward the night sky. And the observations he made created the new science of modern astronomy where telescopes are used to help us understand our universe, our place in it, and how it works.

Galileo first heard about the mysterious telescope in 1609 and set out to make a copy for himself. This first telescope magnified images about three times. And over the course of a decade Galileo continued to make more telescopes and his most powerful one magnified images about ten times. This telescope enabled him to see things never before seen. And it enabled him to change our view of the universe and of the objects in the sky.

The first thing that Galileo turned his telescope to was the moon and by observing it over the course of many nights he made an important discovery. He saw that dark areas on the surface grew and shrunk depending on where the moon was in relation to the sun. From this he made the correct deduction that these dark areas were shadows cast by craters and mountains. He further explained with geometry that the height of the mountains and depth of the craters could be correctly calculated. This was an astonishingly important revelation in our view of the universe because it was previously believed that the moon was a smooth surfaced object.

Another extraordinary observation, and the most important, that Galileo made was the discovery of the four largest moons around Jupiter. They were previously unviewable but with his ten-power telescope he could see them. And after viewing them over the course of several nights he observed that they moved. With further careful observation and calculation he proved that they revolved around Jupiter. And this was a universe changing observation because it was previously believed that everything in the universe revolved around the Earth.

Galileo went on to make many telescopes and to make many other important observations in both the night and day sky including the discovery of spots on the sun and the discovery of the rings of Saturn. His observations in the sky spurred on many other telescope makers and astronomers to further explore the amazing and mysterious objects in the sky. But more importantly he also spurred on other astronomers to apply the laws and lessons of mathematics and logic to their observations in a quest to understand how the universe works.

This creation of the modern science of telescopic astronomy was clearly born in 1610 when he published his work called “Sidereus Nuncius” or the “Starry Messenger”. This work is still available to this day and is considered one of the most important written scientific works.