I started my Explaining Science blog nearly 11 years ago in April 2014. Back then I wasn't sure how long I'd want to keep it going. But now in 2025 I still find that I enjoy blogging very much. In July 2020, the year of the first covid-19 lockdowns in the UK, I started the… Continue reading Creating Videos
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
eBooks from Explaining Science 2024
Update 30 August 2025 I have extensively expanded and rewritten all three “A Short Guide to…” e-books. I will make these books available on Kindle for a competitive price. However, in future I won’t do any deals where I offer free or discounted prices on these books for a limited time period. I believe the… Continue reading eBooks from Explaining Science 2024
The Magnitude Scale
When measuring the brightness of objects in the sky, astronomers use the magnitude scale. The basis of the scale we use today was invented by ancient Greek astronomers. They classified all the stars into six magnitudes. The brightest stars were magnitude 1, the next brightest magnitude 2 and so on. The faintest stars visible to… Continue reading The Magnitude Scale
Twice Yearly Clock Changes
At 0100 UTC (2 AM local time) on Sunday 27 October, the UK like most of Europe will put it clocks back by one hour at is comes to an end of Daylight Saving Time. Most of the USA will follow a week later. In this post I'll give an overview of DST and why… Continue reading Twice Yearly Clock Changes
Gliese 710: The Closest Future Star Encounter
Updated 21 November 2025 In 1.3 million years’ time the star Gliese 710 is forecast to pass within 0.166 light years of the Solar System, 25 times closer than Proxima Centauri which is our current nearest star (excluding the Sun of course). The close approach of Gliese 710 will be the strongest disrupting encounter known… Continue reading Gliese 710: The Closest Future Star Encounter
Explaining Science 