Astronomy has been around for thousands of years and has many uses, including telling the time, explaining tides and facilitating navigation. This course explores the cosmos and explains terminology that may initially appear daunting. You may already be familiar with the celestial pole, solstices and equinoxes, but we explain them in more detail.

The course discusses the ‘perihelion’ and ‘aphelion’, which refer to a celestial body’s farthest and closest points to the Sun respectively. We then outline Kepler’s laws of planetary motion to explain the orbits of planets around the Sun. This brings us to the practical details of celestial navigation, including Greenwich hour angle (GHA), local hour angle (LHA) and sidereal hour angle (SHA).

We study astronomical zenith and nadir and show you how to calculate true altitude, azimuth and true zenith distance. Each concept is clearly explained and broken down. The course covers eclipses and their causes and lays out the Earth-Moon system. We can help you enjoy astronomy like never before as the American Digital University takes you on a tour of the stars.