Author: Steve Hurley

Hi I am Steve Hurley. Although I work in the IT industry. I studied for a PhD in astronomy in the 1980s. 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

Surveying the Cosmos – Part II

Steve Hurley6 Comments

In a previous post  I talked about the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a large telescope being built in Chile which will spend 90% of its time surveying most of the sky a total of  1000 times over a 10 year period (in the remaining 10% it will revisit areas of specific interest).  In this… Continue reading Surveying the Cosmos – Part II

11-12 August 2020 – the Perseids

Steve Hurley2 Comments

For  revised post containing more tips on how to view the Perseids see The Perseids 2021. Meteors (also known as shooting stars) are bright streaks of light caused by small lumps of rock or metal called meteoroids hitting the Earth's atmosphere at a very high speed (in the case of the Perseids around 200,000 km/h). As… Continue reading 11-12 August 2020 – the Perseids

Short Guide to the Moon – ebook

Steve Hurley1 Comment

While others spent lock down perfecting their baking skills or becoming experts in home exercise routines, I have been beavering away revising and reissuing the book I originally wrote about the Moon five years ago.  I am very pleased to  offer this to my readers for free for the next five days, and I hope… Continue reading Short Guide to the Moon – ebook

Surveying the Cosmos – Part I

Steve Hurley12 Comments

In this post I'm going to talk about a new 500 million dollar telescope,  the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), being built at Cerro Pachón in Chile,  and the survey of the cosmos it will  be undertaking over a 10 year period. Cerro Pachón is located in the foothills of the Andes at a latitude… Continue reading Surveying the Cosmos – Part I