Astronomy is useless?Universal universal majors or heating up

Drive to and from the city and the countryside, filming all night, a few hours of complicated late stages ... M8 The gas cloud and interstellar dust in the M8 Lady Lagenors are finally analyzed in front of them. This gorgeous deep -space photography work comes from a newly -graduated high school student. In the past ten years, Wu Sizhe, a astronomical enthusiast, has always buried the dream of astronomers in his heart. In September this year, Nanjing University started, and Wu Sizhe was closer to his dream.

Through the test successfully shortlisted for the astronomical top -up plan, he was about to enter his dream campus to study his loved major. Wu Sizhe said that "the goal set by junior high school is finally realized." From the perspective of the outside world, the major of "the sea of ​​the starry sky" is indeed a bit lonely and cold. Although the School of Astronomical and Space Science of Nanjing University is the most historic academy in the academy in universities in the country, and at present, there are only more than a dozen universities that have opened an astronomical undergraduate major or set up an astronomical department in China.

In the past, astronomy has been regarded as the choice of idealists, and the price of looking up at the moon seems to be the six pence on the ground. However, in recent years, with the country's investment in basic disciplines and the completion of more astronomical space projects, the demand for domestic astronomy talents has increased further. Although domestic astronomy education starts late, it is currently entering a stage of high -speed development. All universities have established astronomy majors. The traditional unpopular astronomy major in the college entrance examination seems to usher in fever. Many experts and scholars have also said that with the enhancement of national strength, the scientific research field has continuously published the world's leading achievements. As an indispensable basic science, astronomy will become a trend in the rise of colleges and universities.

Wu Sizhe's deep space photography. The pictures of this article are all provided by the respondents

Decade of astronomy

Touching Xingyun for borrowed telescope and infrared camera

In elementary school, Wu Sizhe showed his interest in astronomy. Wu Sizhe's father recalled, "The initial interest was caused by documentary, such as" Fighting Star "broadcast by CCTV and" How to Rice the Universe ".

After the third grade and father participated in the activities of the Yunnan Astronomy Association for the first time, Wu Sizhe began to observe all kinds of large and sizes: solar eclipse, Venus, and the planets. The enthusiastic thing is to use his little Made ETX90 (a astronomical telescope suitable for beginners) to see the gully on the surface of the moon, the beautiful halo of Saturn, the light stripes of Jupiter, and the small phase change of Venus's small phase changes. . "Wu Sizhe recalled. The mystery of astronomy is fascinated by Wu Sizhe. The phenomenon in the universe is strange, magnificent and beautiful, but it really exists in this world. "I want to know the vast starry sky and this world."

In high school, Wu Sizhe became more senior astronomical enthusiasts. "With the accumulation of more knowledge, I gradually felt the scientific spirit hidden in astronomy -the double stars around the sky and the falling apples that fell in the same way; You can know the temperature and atmospheric elements of distant stars, and know its past and future; the phenomenon of countless light and land monsters in the universe is being explained by theory ... "Wu Sizhe wrote in a certain observation record. The beautiful planet, the stunned nebula, and the magnificent galaxy are astronomical and emotional beauty, and the place where astronomy attracts him most is the perfect fusion of reality and laws, sensuality and rationality.

At the Grand View Astronomy Affiliated to Yunnan Normal University, Wu Sizhe met two very like -minded partners. The three organized the theoretical courses and daily observations in the society together, prepared for the astronomical competition together, and learned deep -space photography from scratch, and ran through the "out of the stall" in Yangjie Town, Crab, Cars, Snow Mountain and other places in Yunnan Province.

Xiong Haoyu, the 16th president of the Grand View Astronomical Society, introduced that the Daguan Astronomy Society of Yunnan Normal University Affiliated Middle School was established in 2006. It is an old -fashioned and large -scale community of many communities in many associations of the Normal University. Traditional activities include astronomical theory, daily observation, Shilin star viewing, and observatory visit.

The Grand View Astronomy has a very professional activity of astronomical photography, but failed to continue. Wu Sizhe started learning from the initial system adaptation, equipment wiring, shooting, and post -process process. He stepped on the pit and restarted the activity of the Grand View Astronomy Society. Wu Sizhe said, "The" out of the stall "every March is the most anticipated thing in my high school life. When it is far away from light pollution and looking up at the brilliant starry sky in the city, it is a rare shock and feeling of life. And astronomy Photography can analyze the dull nebula and galaxy hidden in your eyes, and it is even more lucky to record and save this feeling. "

Wu Sizhe conducted observation activities with the Astronomical Society partners.

The community activity has firmly the belief of Wu Sizhe's learning astronomy, and many of the members of the successive members have embarked on the road of astronomical research. Jiang Haochang, president of the 15th Astronomical Society, said that due to the development of the Observatory of the Observatory of the Domestic University in 2015, the Astronomical Society has applied for the astronomical majors every year since the 13th session.

Today, Wu Sizhe, who was admitted to Nanjing University, recalled the college entrance examination, and still remembered the last few minutes before entering the examination room, and looked at the figure of the Tianxiang egg on the rooftop attached to the Normal University. When I got the admission notice from Nanjing University in July this year, Wu Sizhe said with emotion, "The goals set in middle school are finally realized. I want to dedicate my life to the development of astronomy." Nanjing University admission notice.

"Astronomical research is not just watching the stars

Also write code "

In fact, astronomy is very different as a hobby and professionalism. Luo Xinlian, an associate professor at the School of Astronomical and Space Science of Nanjing University, told Peng Mei News that from astronomical enthusiasts to astronomical researchers, they need to transform interest into aspirations so that they will be happy.

"Everyone thinks that astronomers are watching stars. In fact, this is the case for astronomers two hundred years ago. With the development of relativity and quantum mechanics in the past 100 years, astronomy has become a very serious and accurate science. The daily work is formula computing, papers, and code. "In the view of Ma Xiaohan, a graduate student of the University of Science and Technology of China, astronomy as a research is a happy thing, but it is not a low threshold and pure enjoyment as a hobby. "It may be a kind of torture. After torture, give you an unparalleled enjoyment."

Deng Yunwei, who graduated from Nanjing University astronomy this year, also divided the professional learning summary of his college period into a third class: read the literature, write code, and write the paper, and project application. Deng Yunwei said, "Scientific research of astronomy is mainly divided into observation, simulation, and theory. Unless it is personally responsible for running a telescope, there is not much time for actual observation."

From the perspective of Professor Cai Yifu, a professor at the Department of Astronomy of the University of Science and Technology, my country's astronomical education needs to increase more practical activities, so that students are not limited to the development of the formula and the simulation analysis of data. Ma Xiaohan said that there are many opportunities for observation during his undergraduate period, but most of them are out of interest instead of research needs. Deng Yunwei also mentioned that he was mainly responsible for the processing and analysis of observation data and the construction of theoretical models. When you go to the Observatory, the person who runs a telescope will be responsible for shooting the data to me. "

In addition, Luo Xinlian said that learning as an astronomy of the "long -term" discipline, students' foundation in physics, computers, mathematics, and English is very important, and it is necessary Professional astronomy worker.

Taking the undergraduate talent training plan of the School of Astronomical and Space Sciences of Nanjing University as an example, the plan states that the direction of astronomical physics, celestial measurement and astrophysics under the major of astronomy, and core courses include celestial physical foundation, theoretical celestial physics, and spherical astronomy. The plan also mentioned that mathematics and physics courses are an important knowledge basis for astronomy majors, and computer knowledge is an important tool. In addition, because of the high degree of internationalization of astronomy research, this major also has higher requirements for students' English ability.

Ma Xiaohan also introduced that, in fact, astronomy and physics during undergraduate period have many same courses, and the computer capabilities requirements of undergraduates of astronomy will not be much lower than those of computer majors.

After the training of computers and mathematics courses during college, many graduates of astronomy finally chose to become programmers or financial analysts. According to the "Employment Quality Report of the School of Astronomical and Space Sciences of Nanjing University in 2021", data from the 2021 graduates of the Astronomical and Space College of Nanjing University show that undergraduate graduates have exceeded 70 % of the Shenzhen and overseas entrances, and graduate graduate students' signing of employment accounting for employment accounting for employment accounting Over 60 %, in general, about half of the selection of further studies. Among graduates who choose employment, they choose more public institutions (including higher education units, middle school education units, scientific research and design units) and enterprise units.

Domestic astronomy education development

"Long -term Discipline" gradually heats up

Compared with mathematics and physics, astronomy is a basic discipline, but the sense of existence has always been low.

my country's astronomy education starts late, especially in terms of astronomy technology and instruments. There is still a gap with foreign countries. Ma Xiaohan said that the development of basic disciplines requires the accumulation of academic inheritance and century -old academic environment. The first batch of doctoral doctors in my country graduated in 1983, and graduate training was relatively young. At present, there are still less than 20 universities that have opened an astronomical undergraduate major or set up an astronomical department, and most of the schools have incomplete specialty.

At the same time, astronomy, as a discipline based on observation, requires researchers to understand and participate in measurement. Therefore, the development of education and scientific research depends on observation equipment and instruments. "Early Chinese astronomy researchers should rely on applying for telescopes from other countries, or to download the observation data from the online telescope from the Internet. In recent years, my country has only two -meter -caliber optical telescope. "Goku" one. "Yuan Yefei, a professor at the Department of Astronomy of the University of Science and Technology of China, told Peng Mei News," With its own world -leading telescope, it can make the world's leading results. For example The results were published. "

In addition to "Tianyan", the completion of more astronomical and space projects such as "Hehe" and the Da Vision Telescope also further increased the demand for astronomical talents. In 2014, the construction of large scientific devices such as Guo Shoujing telescope and 500 -meter radio telescope FAST continued to advance, and the gap in scientific research talents was initially prominent. In the following years, the massive data collected by more large scientific devices also urgently needed a large number of outstanding astronomers and physicists to analyze. In recent years, domestic investment in education has continued to increase. New schools have sprung up like after the rain. Many international young scholars also choose to return to domestic colleges and universities. The development of basic science is rapid. Chen Pengfei, a professor at the School of Astronomical and Space Sciences of Nanjing University, wrote in the "Chinese National Astronomy" that from 1999 to 2020, the average domestic department of astronomy was added every year in China. 208 people in 2018. In the 2018 basic subject training plan, based on the original five disciplines (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological science, computer science), 12 disciplines including astronomy are added to make astronomy as one of the basic disciplines even more affordable. Pay attention to.

At the same time, some universities realize the integration of science and education through cooperation with the Observatory. For example, the Zijin Mountain Observatory was listed as a talent training unit at the University of Science and Technology of China, so that the University of Science and Technology of China can share talents and astronomical technologies with them.

In addition, Yuan Yefei said that in the past, astronomy, as a "long -term discipline", has always been a funding issue that has been constantly developing. "Astronomy is a very basic and very 'unusable' discipline, and there is no obvious economic benefits in the short term." In contrast, the transformation rate of scientific research results in applied disciplines is higher. Fund, and basic disciplines almost rely on government funding support.

However, in Yuan Yefei, this does not mean that astronomy is a real "useless" discipline. The development of astronomy can drive many useful technologies. Tsai Yifu also introduced it for example. At present, CCD, the predecessor of CMOS, the core imaging component of the mobile digital camera, was first developed due to the needs of astronomy's optical imaging. The well -known Zeiss Corporation, which is well -known because of the camera lens, also did an astronomical telescope. Yuan Yefei added that the pulling technology used in the construction of Tianyan was also applied to the construction of the Hong Kong -Zhuhai -Macao Bridge. "Due to the high requirements of astronomy, its technical achievements can easily be transformed into the civilian field."

From the perspective of scientific return, Yuan Yefei said that astronomy is a basic subject that can drive revolutionary changes. Historically, the observation of astronomers Timu brings the law of the planets and Newtonian mechanics. Today, astronomical observations will also greatly help the verification and development of physics theory.

Source: Surging News

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