>>28074822astronomy is not limited to just space travel a-la Interstellar (2014), many of the technologies developed for astronomical observations and analysis have been repurposed for more earthly applications like GPS, x-rays and advanced image processing, kind of like how war has sadly helped with technological breakthroughs except this has been benign from the start. also, astronomy is one of the few fields where there's international scale unity.
also considering how most macroscopic phenomena are disproportionately larger and require longer time to happen astronomy helps us think in the long term, which is crucial for our survival as a species since short-term thinking (especially in the name of profit) has been extremely detrimental, especially to the environment.
finally, it's truly fascinating how MANY things there are out there and how many of them are indeed pretty lights, and how that means our home planet is genuinely a treasure we should protect since we won't be able to find another one.
i do agree that people being like "omg were so cosmically insignifucant!!" are cringe though.
