The next division is the solar-system astronomy, which tells us that the planets can be studied with telescopes from the ground, from spacecraft in the earth's orbit. And from space craft passing near them or landing on them, also another division is the search for extraterrestrial life which is a serious observation that are being made or are proposed for searches for signs of celestial signals being sent by extraterrestrial beings. The last few divisions which are astrometry, the study of the positions and motions of stars and other celestial objects, telescopes that new technologies have led to advances in telescopes in all parts of the spectrum, computational astronomy which is the small and moderate sized computers that run telescopes and assist with data reduction. Finally there is the Celestial mechanics which is another topic that remains traditionally part of astronomy rather than astrophysics and is modern celestial mechanics, which became prominent in such matters as predicting the path of Haley's Comet with sufficient accuracy to allow space craft rendezvous, and the last division which is the historical astronomy which is the study of astronomy's rich history that not only enables the roots of the science to be better understood but also provides data for comparison with the present.
As stated in the World Book Encyclopedia, .
" The roots of astronomy extend back to the dawn of civilization. More than 4,000 years ago, in what is now England, several generations of people built Stonehenge, and "observatory- consisting of huge, cut stones arranged in circles. .
Certain stones and alignments of stones appear to mark locations of astronomical importance, such as the point at which the sun rose on the longest day of the year. Stonehenge was apparently also a place of worship. Some of today's constellations have their roots in patterns in the sky noted by the Sumerians in perhaps 2000 BC Chinese constellation patterns, which are largely different from those used in Europe, may also date from that time, Babylonian tablets show that astronomers there were noting the positions of the moon and planets by 700 BC.