Even though the Moon is far smaller and less massive than the Earth its gravitational field still has significant effects on our planet. The most noticeable of these are tides, the periodic rise and fall of sea levels. In this post I'll give an overview of the causes of tides. This is something which many… Continue reading Overview of tides
Author: Steve Hurley
Hi I am Steve Hurley. I work in the IT industry. I studied for a PhD in astronomy in the 1980s. Outside work my real passion is explaining scientific concepts to a non-scientific audience. My blog (explainingscience.org) covers various scientific topics, but primarily astronomy. It is written in a style that it is easily understandable to the non scientist.
Publications and videos
For links to my books and videos please visit www.explainingscience.org
Happy New year 2022
Happy new year to all my readers! Shortly after most of Europe and North America moved back to winter time from Daylight Saving Time, I created a poll to see how my readers living in these regions felt about the switch. Now that we’ve entered the new year, I’ve decided to close the poll and… Continue reading Happy New year 2022
Reducing global carbon dioxide emissions
In early November 2021 much of the world’s media was focussed on the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (also known as COP26). As most of you will know, its key objectives were to get individual states to commit to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, to end deforestation and to plan to move away from fossil fuel… Continue reading Reducing global carbon dioxide emissions
Measuring Distances in Cosmology
I have recently written an article for my local amateur astronomical society about distance measurements in cosmology. There is a lot of confusion about what we mean by "distance" on the vast such scales and the article was written to help clear up of these misunderstandings. It is an expanded version of a shorter blog… Continue reading Measuring Distances in Cosmology
James Webb Telescope
On 18 December a Ariane 5 rocket will take off from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, aboard it will be the $12 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - the most expensive scientific instrument ever launched into space. In this post I’ll talk about this remarkable telescope and the mission to deploy it.… Continue reading James Webb Telescope
Explaining Science 