Happy new year to all my readers and followers. I hope you have had a good festive break. My and wife and I went on a cruise to the Canary Islands, Lisbon and Madeira over Christmas to get away from the cold and damp North West of England. During our holiday I was hoping to… Continue reading Happy new year 2016
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
The evenings are drawing out already
Revised 14 December 2025 As I complete this post, it's completely dark outside and it's only 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Today is 14 December, and most people I come across think that it will continue to get dark earlier and earlier in the afternoons until 21 December (the date of the winter solstice in 2025), the… Continue reading The evenings are drawing out already
Akatsuki – a second chance – Updated (7 Dec 2015)
This an update to my original post from 4 December. In a press release today the Japanese space agency JAXA confirmed that the smaller rocket motors had fired as planned and the Akatsuki is now in orbit round Venus. The announcement (http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2015/12/20151207_akatsuki.html) went on to say: "The orbiter is now in good health. We are… Continue reading Akatsuki – a second chance – Updated (7 Dec 2015)
Akatsuki – a second chance – 7 December 2015
On 7 December 2010, after a six month journey, the Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki (named after the Japanese word for dawn) arrived at Venus after a six month journey. It was only the second spacecraft launched since 1989 to visit the Earth's sister planet and, if it had succeeded in orbiting Venus, it would have had… Continue reading Akatsuki – a second chance – 7 December 2015
A Christmas gift from The Science Geek
Christmas is almost upon us. Give yourself an early Christmas present, without it costing you a penny, by downloading my e-books for free during the first five days of December! "Is Anyone Out There?" is about the likelihood of there being extraterrestrial intelligent life. It is based on a number of posts from my blog. For readers based… Continue reading A Christmas gift from The Science Geek
Explaining Science 