In the explanatory dictionary of the Tajik language, the term "superstition" means nonsense, meaningless speech, unfounded opinion and thoughts. Since the day mankind stepped into the world of science, it has been haunted by superstition. Superstition has caused many to fall prey to ignorance, which has caused serious problems in the development and progress of any field of science. Even with the great ignorance and superstition of common people, many scientists have been victimized in the way of advancement of science. That is why superstition can be called the severe pain of science and even the death of science. The reason why people are superstitious is their ignorance, limitation and distance from science. To pull people out of the abyss of superstition and ignorance, it is necessary to develop all fields of science more and more.

In terms of science, superstition is a fictitious idea that is not proven. Superstitions in cultural studies are a set of myths, legends, ideas, misconceptions, misconceptions, customs and traditions that do not conform to reason, knowledge, cognition, logic and reality. Below we give a few superstitious ideas related to the science of astronomy to better understand superstition. We are talking about the outbursts of meteorite bodies (falling stars) and the formation of comets (comets) in the sky. Meteorites are " shooting stars." Meteorite comes from the Greek word and means "vaporized in the air".

When solid meteoroid bodies enter the Earth's atmosphere at speeds ranging from 11 to 72 km/s, friction occurs in the atmospheric air, which is then exposed to metasphand to the ignition temperature and then ignited and destroyed by combustion. These fast moving fiery bodies are called meteorites. Ordinary people refer to them as "shooting stars".

Meteorite bodies in the sky.

There was a myth among our ancestors and other peoples that every person living on Earth had his own star in the sky that when his star was torn from the sky, his connection to life would be severed and he would die.

When meteor flashes were observed in the sky, it was said that a star was torn from the sky and the person passed away. This myth is still popular among people that it is fundamentally scientifically unfounded and related to superstition. In fact, the stars do not come off the sky, they are very far from us, without affecting our lives or our activities.

Comets.

Comets have been known to humans as "tail stars" since time immemorial. The word "comet" comes from the Greek word "cometis" and means "hairy." Indeed, a comet visible to the naked eye has a long tail and looks like a fixed object.

Comet Hale-Bopp in the sky in the spring of 1997.

As comets approach the Sun, sunlight causes water and other easily absorbed substances to vaporize from the surface of the nucleus. These vaporized substances fall opposite the Sun and form the comet's tail.

The ancient Chinese envisioned the sky as a large country in which the bright planets were considered the rulers and the stars were the courtiers of the government. Because comets in the sphere of the sky often changed position among the stars, they were considered the letter carriers of the celestial rulers. They thought that it was these bodies, that is, comets, that conveyed the emperor's order to the heavenly rulers through a letter. Therefore, with their imagination, all the events occurring in the sky and on the earth took place according to the order of the heavenly emperor.

When comets appeared in the sky, fear arose in people's hearts, some people died of fear, and some people committed suicide. The deaths of kings and honorable people were related to the appearance of comets. In addition, the cause of accidents on earth such as plague, famine, war and bloodshed, natural disasters, etc., was related to the appearance of comets on earth. Of course, the main reason why they got caught up in these superstitions was that they did not have the most basic information about these giraffes.

In fact, the appearance of luminous comets in the sky has nothing to do with the beginning of the above events. Comets cannot affect humans except for their collision with the Earth. Unfortunately, some of the people hold such superstitious ideas, and in order to get them out of people's minds, it is necessary to intensify the promotion of science. Because without warning, without reading, it is impossible to save people from ignorance and save them from the abyss of superstitious destruction.

Asoev H.T.- Researcher of the Institute of astrophysics NAS

Ayubov D.K.- Specialist of youth affairs department of Avicenna Tajik State Medical University

Translated Ismoilov R.