This model is part of wider Dichotic theory of salience, according to which a stimulus is salient either when it is incongruent in a certain context to a perceiver's schema, or when it is congruent in a certain context to a perceiver's goal.
âThat first day in the Hayden Planetariumâ¦I looked up, the lights dimmed and stars came out, and I was called by the universe. I had no choice in the matter,â he says. From then on, Neil was determined to become an astrophysicist, someone who studies the stars and universe. He saved up for a telescope and spent his evenings studying the night sky on city rooftops. His stargazing habits were not necessarily well received however, as his neighbors would often report him for suspicious behavior.
A scientist who studies the objects in the sky, including planets, galaxies, black holes, and stars, is called an astronomer. These days, the terms astronomer and astrophysicist are used interchangeably, to talk about any physicist who specializes in celestial bodies and the forces that affect them. Astronomers use telescopes and cameras to observe the stars and other objects in the sky, and they often use complicated math to make predictions and solve puzzles about their movements and locations. The Greek root, astronomia, literally means star arrangement..