Writing a Kick-Ass Astronomy Essay: Detailed How-to Recommendations

Astronomy is the branch of science that focuses on celestial objects (like the planets, stars and the moon) physical universe and space. Generally, astronomy is the study of all things outside the earth atmosphere. Writing an astronomy essay is one way of gauging your knowledge on universe formation, development of celestial objects and facts about earth, etc. Writing an effective astronomy essay requires thorough brainstorming and proper planning to ensure that the essay is well structured and the information presented aligns with the astronomy topic.

Pre-Writing Tips from Our Experts on How to Start Off

After going through the various topics and identifying one that is the most appropriate and interesting, it is now time to think about the organization of the paper and the information to be included. Here are some of the main pre-writing tips worth considering when writing an astronomy essay.

• Think of the right structure of your astronomy essay. The focus of the paper determines the type of the structure that the essay should follow. Focusing on the astronomy topic determines the type of essay you are writing. Is it an informative, descriptive or persuasive essay? It’s up to you to decide. This will help you in developing a suitable structure for the essay and guide you on where to start.
• Develop the primary ideas and points to include in the essay. Knowing the prime points and ideas to incorporate in the essay makes writing easy and enjoyable. Brainstorm about what the topic entails and put down the points that you feel you should concentrate on while writing. Make a distinction between weak and strong points to ensure that the essay is not based on ideas that cannot be well-substantiated or proved. Also, keep in mind the structure of the essay.
• Think of the main argument of the essay. For an essay to be considered effective, it must comprise an argument that it is trying to put across and also provide ample evidence to support the claim. Analyze the major points you have identified and look at the message that they are trying to communicate. Think of the various arguments that you can make and choose the most compelling one. Even more, focus on the claim you are making and try to determine whether it is a claim that has been made by others or it is a new one.
• Formulate questions about your major claim. Having acquired the right claim, it is now time to draft some questions to assess the validity and accurateness of the argument. Ask yourself whether the claim makes sense and can be supported. Think of how your argument can be challenged and how you can defend it. Notably, avoid making biased arguments or those that have already been proved to be fallacious and invalid through research, unless you have enough evidence that proves otherwise.
• Research your topic. Conducting preliminary research about the topic is crucial in essay writing. Carry out brief research on the chosen topic to gain an idea about what others have written about the subject. This will help you to understand the arguments that have been made in prior studies, thereby helping you to decide whether you should narrow or broaden your topic. Researching can enable you to acquire new and critical ideas which you can make use of in your essay. Moreover, through research, you can finally determine the validity of your claim and get to know the arguments that have been disputed over the years and those that researchers have rendered to be totally illogical.
• Outlining. Once you have successfully undertaken all the above steps, you can now proceed with organizing your ideas in a logical and presentable order through an outline. Constructing an outline will help in narrowing down the essay’s most critical ideas and arguments.

Topic Selection for the Astronomy Essay

Selecting the topic that the essay will center on is the first step in getting started with the writing process. The topic of the astronomy essay should be carefully chosen and should also be clear and of interest to the writer. Also, the topic should be narrow and as straightforward as possible. In order to come up with the right topic, it is crucial to follow several steps as outlined below:

• Identify interesting topics that are both informative and have great content;
• From your list, identify three topics that have not been covered a lot in the last few years;
• From this brief list, identify the most appealing subject.

There are numerous astronomy topics that you can focus on, which include but aren’t limited to the following:

• The Formation of the Solar System. This is an engaging topic that details how the solar system was formed. Choosing a topic on the solar system will allow you to interact with ample research and evidence, thereby gaining more knowledge.
• The Effect of Asteroids on the Earth. The topic entails the exploration of asteroids impact on the earth. In this astronomy subject, you can focus on the importance of the near-earth asteroids, their effect on earth and the consequences they have on society in the 21st century.
• Planetary Comparison. This is an essential and central topic in astronomy that fosters critical thinking skills. It requires the students to critically compare the different planets in the solar system. Here you can concentrate on writing an essay that extensively compares the planet’s size and distance as well as the basic features of the planets.
• The Big Bang Theory. This is a popular scientific theory that describes the first materialization of the world. Writing about the Big Bang Theory can introduce you to the intriguing facts of the model as well as the basic concepts that help with understanding the universe expansion.
• The Universe and What It Has to Hide. A topic on universe covers all galaxies, stars, particles, planets, and matter. When writing the essay, you can organize it to include an exploration of all the components of the universe while highlighting the key facts and arguments.

Formulating a Strong Thesis Statement

In order to write a paper that is both succinct and informative, it is crucial to be disciplined throughout the writing process. A thesis statement helps an individual to achieve this goal. Through a thesis statement, the writer is able to establish the main idea of the astronomy essay and then explore it in the body paragraphs.

A good thesis statement should be original, specific and reflective of what the astronomy essay is about.

It is crucial to organize your ideas in such a manner that each body paragraph has a different theme. One should then connect these paragraphs with transition sentences or phrases as they help to maintain the flow of the astronomy essay.

Build up an Appropriate Outline

An outline provides the ultimate direction that the essay will take. It presents the key claims and points to be incorporated in the essay. Noteworthy, by providing a good sense of what the essay will entail, an outline helps with making sure that the writing process will be smooth and less complex. Organizing ideas in an outline also ensures that the essay is clear and coherent. Let us look at how to create an outline and some of the things to consider when doing so.

• Begin with the introduction. While drafting an outline start with the introduction part where you introduce your topic and lay the major argument. The introduction should comprise a few sentences and end with a thesis statement.
• Body paragraphs. Write down the ideas of each body paragraph.

1st paragraph

Topic sentence. The first paragraph should contain a topic sentence that conveys the idea to be discussed or explored.
Evidence. Present the evidence that supports your idea, and argue your point.

2nd and 3rd paragraphs

Following the same structure of the first paragraph (highlighted above) jot down the claims of the second and third paragraphs. Come up with a topic sentence that tells the reader the point that each paragraph will be addressing. Also, use adequate and credible evidence to support each point made in the paragraphs. End each paragraph with a critical analysis of your topic.

• Conclusion. In the conclusion section, you sum up all the claims presented in the body paragraphs and restate the thesis statement. In other words, the conclusion should sum up the arguments of the essay.
• Other things to consider. When writing an outline, always make use of bullet points to highlight the fundamental ideas and claims you will be focusing on in each section. Notably, an outline should be straightforward, well-organized and brief. A good outline should be between one and two pages.
  Having come up with an outline, the next step is engaging in the actual writing of the essay. This part entails elaborating on the information provided in the outline and presenting it in a way that is more coordinated and concise. An astronomy essay should contain three primary sections in which the selected topic should be adequately addressed. Let us critically focus on the 3 sections.

The Introduction

This part is the initial opening of the astronomy essay that introduces the reader to the topic. The introduction should clearly communicate the topic under study and present the thesis or the main argument of the essay. In the introduction part you should focus on doing the following:

• Begin with an attention grabber that will make the reader become interested in reading the whole of your essay. You may start with a quote, term definition or intriguing facts concerning the chosen astronomy topic;
• Offer brief background information on the topic that informs the reader of the direction you are taking. Ensure that the information is not too broad to avoid confusion;
• Lay out the thesis statement or the essay’s argument. Once you have introduced the topic, present your claim. The thesis statement should be specific and short, preferably one or two sentences, but it may be longer depending on the essay’s length.

The Body

The body is the chief part of an astronomy essay which includes the support and evidence of the essay.

The body should contain three or more paragraphs that should assist you to prove your argument. It should also be organized in an orderly and logical manner. The leading goal of the body section is to develop a clear analysis and defend your thesis adequately. When writing the body, you should do the following:

• Include a series of paragraphs which address a central theme that assists in furthering your argument. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence that introduces the theme.
• Use evidence to support and expand on the claim introduced in the topic sentence found in every paragraph. Critically analyze and describe the evidence to demonstrate how it strengthens and relates to the particular argument you have presented in the paragraph and to the overall thesis. Moreover, whenever possible and necessary incorporate several examples to support your point. Further, ensure that paragraphs comprise five to seven sentences which are well-written.
• Make use of transitions to ensure that the ideas presented in the paragraphs are distinct from each other and the essay retains a good flow.
• Make sure that the essay has a logical order of ideas. When presenting your arguments and evidence pay attention to chronological order, emphatic order and spatial order. This will help you to ensure that your essay employs profound evidence and makes compelling claims.

Presenting Arguments about the Thesis

When supporting your thesis with the relevant arguments, it is crucial to separate them in different paragraphs. This arrangement makes it easy to follow the flow of the essay’s ideas. One must also embolden the argument by inserting reliable and high-quality examples. In doing so, one is able to appeal to the reader’s sense of logic.

Conclusion

This is the final section of the essay that wraps all the points and claims made in the essay. Commonly, the conclusion brings together your arguments and restates to the thesis statement. The conclusion, however, surpasses a summary, in that it shows why your thesis has merit. In this section you should do the following:

• Summarize the argument. Focus on summarizing the major ideas and points made in the essay while showing how they connect to the thesis. Refrain from adding anything new in this part and concentrate on the information that you have already analyzed in the body.
• Explain the importance of your thesis. Although not mandatory you may choose to briefly expound on why the argument you have made in the essay matters. The explanation can be done in three sentences, and depending on your topic you can end by calling the readers to take a specific action.

Post-Writing Tips You Can’t Skip

At this juncture, you have successfully completed writing the astronomy essay and what remains is going through your work once more to ensure the paper is free of errors and has a good flow. The following are the activities you should focus on.

• Proofreading/editing. After completing the writing process, you should take a small break before going through your paper. After relaxing take your essay and go through it, look for typos, errors, incorrect use of tenses, misuse of words and edit the paper accordingly.
• Referencing. Academic essays necessitate a reference page that lists all the sources utilized in writing the essay. Ensure that you include all the books, articles, newspapers or journals that you have used to compose the essay on the reference page. Also, make sure that you format all the sources according to the specified formatting style.

References

1. Chapman, C. R. (2004). The hazard of near-Earth asteroid impacts on earth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 222(1), 1-15.
2. Coffin, C., Curry, M. J., Goodman, S., Hewings, A., Lillis, T., & Swann, J. (2005). Teaching academic writing: A toolkit for higher education. Routledge.
3. Lea, M. R., & Street, B. V. (1998). Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157-172.
4. Savage, A., & Mayer, P. (2006). Effective academic writing: the short essay. Oxford University Press.
5. Unsöld, A., & Baschek, B. (2013). The new cosmos: An introduction to astronomy and astrophysics. Springer Science & Business Media.