Astrophysical.org
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physical properties of stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects. Among such characteristics are: temperature, luminosity, color, density and chemical composition of stars. Cosmology is theoretical astrophysics at its largest scale, involving the structure of the whole universe. Astrophysical research is important for physics at atomic and subatomic scales.
Most of modern astronomical research involves a substantial amount of physics and can be considered astrophysics. However, astronomy is considered to be separated into 3 traditional branches: astrometry and celestial mechanics are the classical fields of astronomy; astrophysics is the modern field. The current high status of astrophysics is reflected in the naming of institutions involved in astronomical research: the oldest ones are “astronomy” departments or institutes, the newest ones include “astrophysics” in their names, often excluding the word “astronomy”.
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