What do you think is the largest threat to the study of astronomy?

Question

Please explain your answer and please be detailed. i will pick the best answer based on effort, and not one that i necessarily pick the answer i agree with.

thanks everyone!

Answer 1

I think the biggest threat is the fact that the Sun is a star and stars die out

So when the sun dies out

We will die out

So that isnt just a threat to astronomy

It is a threat to the WORLD

Answer 2

Well, the study of Astronomy has been happening for many many years. Origianlly most views of it were opposed by the Church because the findings that Astronmers concluded contradicted that of the Church's beliefs. Hence why Galileo was sentence to life house arrest. I believe that Religion is probably the biggest threat. But, in our world today, I don't really think there is a big threat to  the study of Astronomy, just Religion used to be the biggest threat.

Because humans will have long died out by the time the Sun dies out (Naturally die out... not because of that man made global warming c**p).

Answer 3

Fundamentalist Christianity.  Other fundamentalist religions are a threat, but aren't taken as seriously. The sad thing is that it's really awful theology.

I mean really.  The Earth is 6,000 years old?  There is plenty of evidence that contradicts this idea. Geological, radiological, ice cores, even tree rings, and so on. And on top of it, a good interpretation of the Bible does not support the idea.  May as well say that the Earth was created last Thursday.

Answer 4

Ethics.  

Having been in the game for awhile, I am familiar with the pressures scholars are put under to publish. Pressures that sometimes lead to pretty crappy research, but that's okay, it only hurts the researcher and the institution he works for... what's NOT okay is the system for funding is set up so fragile that if ONE bozo screws up and attracts too much media attention, the money will be lost by many other honest researchers.

its a real sword of Damocles hanging over a scholar's head.

<edit>  oh, and the Sun dying out, too.  Dang, why don't I get the good answers!

Answer 5

Well, what if one day, somehow and someway, someone have proved that all theories about astronomy including, general theory of relativity, all those string theories, etc are wrong.. Would that be a biggest threat?

Answer 6

Light pollution.

The constant expansion of cities and population is slowly eating up the dark skies of the world. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find a truly dark site from which good astronomical observations can be made.

Answer 7

I am going to go with "clouds"  When there are clouds out it is difficult to view the universe.

Answer 8

There are many threats astronomy and new every day, like the meteors, the comets, etc. but the most to be worried is the extra terrestrials, few days before i saw a clip on discovery which displayed how the manned moon mission was curtailed, and a news channel displayed the news of how the cows in America were lifted by the UFOs. Cosmic signals being received on earth, and of course the new fear 0f 2012.

Answer 9

Wow! A complicated issue and many interesting thoughts on it. But how can we say what is the largest threat?

And even if we could identify that "largest" one what good would it do if that wasn't the determining factor?

Imagine an elephant that is just one pound shy of weight required to tip the balance. Then picture a one pound bag of peanuts. Even if you withheld that last peanut who's to say a bird wouldn't come out of the blue and land on the elephants head?

Seems to me better to not waste time trying to indentify and count peanuts (and assigning blame) when we could be gathering rocks for our side.

Answer 10

Catholics

Answer 11

I think a huge threat to the study of astronomy would simply be that the universe is SO MASSIVE that humans will never in our existance be able to examine all of it. Unless of course we gain alien technologies that allow us to travel FTL. But I saw that in a video game so...yea...