I was actually chatting about this yesterday and started to think that maybe the worth of study will always ultimately be study itself since any benefits are most often unintended or by-products.

I too like to tell people why their torches will still work on the Enterprise and why they will be streched out like spaghetti as they race toward a black hole. You’re right, it does reenthuse after hours at a computer.

Firstly, astronomy is a cutting edge science and as such is a technology driver. Sure the innovations are usually by-products but without astronomers demanding the technology (and making it in some cases) various useful devices may not have been invented yet. I previously posted a non-exhaustive list. From an economist’s (or the STFC board’s) point of view, training scientists is also a good thing for the economy.

The second reason is to test our understanding of fundamental physics and chemistry e.g. gravity and relativity. Knowing how these work does have practical consequences (GPS needs relativistic corrections to work).

The third reason (and the one I actually care more about than the tech spin-offs) is that astronomy answers some of the big questions that a civilization can ask. What is the Universe? Is there life out there? What will happen to our planet in the future? Of course, not all astronomers are answering all (or any) of these questions directly, but everyone is piecing together bits of the puzzle to help make the big picture. Star formation helps us work out how stars form and subsequently how planetary systems can originate. Most people would say that was interesting, although not necessarily practical.

However, the question here is about worthiness. I think you’ll find that many people have some level of interest in space/astronomy as you’ll notice if you tell people at the pub or on a train that you’re an astronomer. This usually generates a good reaction and people will ask you some question they’ve wanted to know the answer to such as “what is a black hole?” or “if I shone a torch from the front of a space ship going at the speed of light what would happen?” or “do aliens exist?”. So although astronomy may not have many practical benefits (generating widgets to do stuff), and people don’t necessarily want to know all the details about the Universe, most people are comforted that there are some people who do think about it.

For the record, I got into astronomy because I like to know how the Universe (and its contents) work. The Universe is incredible and exciting although it can be easy to forget that after spending hours processing noisy data on a computer. Perhaps that is why I like talking to non-astronomers about astronomy because it always enthuses me again.