What’s the difference between Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology?
You may be wondering this so you know what to study in school, because they all seem the same. This video will briefly help you distinguish between the 3 as we dive deeper into cosmology in future videos

Astronomy is a blanket term that generally covers all study of stars, planets, and space in general. This means that an Astronomy degree can put you well on your way to studying Astrophysics or Cosmology in your professional field, so don’t feel like you are missing out on anything if you choose this as your major. For lack of better terms though, you can think of Astronomy as primarily focused on observing the skies. 

Astrophysics applies the laws of physics and chemistry to explain the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. If you want to study Astrophysics in college, you could start with an Astronomy degree, then you should aim to (eventually) complete a doctorate in astrophysics, and then take on a post-doctoral position in astrophysics. Astrophysicists can work for the government, university labs and, occasionally, private organizations.

Cosmology is similar to Astrophysics, but deals with phenomena on a larger scale. Whereas astrophysics is concerned with the physics and evolution of stars and galaxies, Cosmology is concerned with the birth, evolution and death of space itself and these larger cosmological structures like superclusters and voids. Cosmologists ask questions like, how did the universe begin, why is it expanding, and how will it die? Cosmologists have similar schooling as Astrophysicists, focusing their advanced degrees on Cosmology after having a background in Astronomy. Cosmologists can also work for the government, university labs and agencies such as NASA and the European Space Agency.

To recap:

Astronomers observe positions, luminosities, and motions of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies.
Astrophysicists study the physics of how all of these objects behave in space
Cosmology studies the existence of larger cosmological structure and the birth and fate of our universe as a whole. 

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