What is the difference between astronomy and astrology?
What is the difference between astronomy and astrology?
The words may be similar, but astronomy (a science) and astrology (a divinatory practice) are very different things.
Astronomy is learning about the solar system and all of the universe. Galaxies! Stars! Planets! Black Holes! Quasars! Pulsars! Planets! Moons! Asteroids! Dark matter?! The speed of light! Gravity! Gravitational lensing! Spectrometry!
Astrology is thinking that the current position of mercury is the causal reason your girlfriend cheated on you. Or that the month you were born determines your personality.
Do we really need a whole article on the subject? It's pretty well established what the two subjects are.
You'd think so! Alas, it's nice to have a concise explanation for people who are not in the know.
One can make stupid people attracted to you (or not) and the other can make smart people attracted to you (or not).
Jokes aside, even as an owner of multiple telescopes, astrology (as entertainment) doesn’t bother me. People who take it seriously bother me but if someone reads their horoscope for fun or says, “He’s such a Scorpio!” or whatever as a joke, I give it a pass. My mood for the day sometimes depends on the performance of a soccer team on a different continent.
Also, if you get really into astronomy/astrophotography, the positions of the planets (not to mention clouds) can predict your mood, at least for one night (or day if there’s an eclipse).
2 letters.