Astronomy and astrophysics today

Where does everything come from? How did life originate? Are we alone in the universe? Such "big" questions have occupied astronomers and philosophers for thousands of years. Today, we are in a position to research these and a wealth of other cosmic questions and have already found many interesting and often surprising answers.

The basis for this is, on the one hand, high technology: extremely light-sensitive observatories stationed on earth and in space, and supercomputers with which simulations are carried out that make it possible to understand the very complex processes in the cosmos. Furthermore, the current level of knowledge in physics, mathematics, information processing, etc., i.e. the intellectual capacity of the experts, most of whom work together in teams worldwide.

The findings to date are encouraging. For example, scientists now have a fairly good understanding of how galaxies, stars, planets, moons, comets, asteroids etc. form and age. We also know how the elements (oxygen, carbon, iron, etc.) are formed and where terrestrial water comes from. We know the sun inside out, so to speak, and much, much more. A number of researchers at the University of Innsbruck are involved in various ground-breaking projects of this kind.

But what about the "big" questions today? We already know a lot, but by no means everything. For example, it is known that there was a Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago and the majority of experts suspect that the universe had a predecessor universe and that there may be countless others in addition to our universe.

As far as "life" is concerned, we now know of a variety of organic molecules in the cosmos that could be the "seeds" of life. The number of planets discovered on which suitable environmental conditions are likely to prevail is constantly increasing.

And the uniqueness of the Earth as a carrier of higher life forms? Unfortunately, the answer to this elementary question is still written in the stars ...