Astronomy Items
I thought it would be interesting to produce a short list of popular science books, which I’ve not read before, which would be worth reading. I have done some research on Amazon, looking for five books which: looked appealing, were well written, were published in the last 15 years, were aimed at the general public… Continue reading Five Popular Science Books by Real Scientists
Updated 7 December 2025 The ashen light is a faint glow, which many people claim to have seen on the night side of Venus. The Italian astronomer Giovanni Riccioli (1598 -1671) first reported it back in 1643, 33 years after Galileo had made the first observations of Venus with a telescope and discovered the planet… Continue reading The Mystery of the Ashen Light of Venus
Updated 30 November 2025 A lot has happened since I wrote a post back in June 2025 about the Artemis programme. At the time it looked like America would be landing astronauts on the Moon in mid-2027. However in October, concerned by delays in SpaceX’s Starship HLS, the NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy revealed that… Continue reading NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions Update
Solar sails are the only method of spacecraft propulsion in which no fuel is needed. Until recently spacecraft powered by solar sails were the stuff of science fiction. However, following the success of the Japanese spacecraft IKAROS in 2010 the crowd-funded Light Sail 2 spacecraft in 2019 and NASA's ACS3 in 2024, spacecraft powered by… Continue reading Solar Sails: Fuel-Free Space Travel
Many people think that the whole of the Moon’s far side is entirely hidden from view. This isn’t quite true. There is a region around the boundary between the near and far sides which is sometimes visible due to a phenomenon called libration. Libration causes the Moon to appear to wobble from side to side and… Continue reading How Libration Reveals some of the Moon’s Far Side
Explaining Science 