"All humans, everywhere in the world and throughout history, have looked up at the sky and wondered at it. This experience is now denied to most people, because of the background light in towns and cities. It is important to ensure that there will be somewhere in England where young people can fully enjoy a cosmic… Continue reading Dark Skies.
Tag: Astronomy
Astronomy Items
Enceladus Flyby 28 Oct 2015
On 28 October 2015 the space probe Cassini, which has been orbiting Saturn for the last 10 years, will pass within 50 km of the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. This is an extremely close approach by an interplanetary spacecraft (by comparison the New Horizons mission only got as close as 12,500 km above the surface of Pluto) and… Continue reading Enceladus Flyby 28 Oct 2015
Lunar Eclipse 28 September 2015
On 28 September 2015 there will be an total eclipse of the Moon, which will be viewable from many areas of the world. It will be an interesting sight and worth getting up at an unsociable hour to see it, especially since there won't be another total lunar eclipse until 2018. The Moon during a recent… Continue reading Lunar Eclipse 28 September 2015
How the length of a day changes over the year
The length of a solar day varies throughout the year, ranging from about 23 hours 59 minutes 38 seconds in mid-September to 24 hours 30 seconds around Christmas. This variation is caused by the Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt, affecting the Sun's apparent motion and leading to differences in natural time measured by sundials versus clock time.
The Steady State Theory
Revised Auust 2026 There is also a video about the Steady State theory on the Explaining Science YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/aUmQjmw4jhE The Steady State theory is an elegant alternative to the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe . It was very popular among astronomers in the 1950s, but is now obsolete. What is the… Continue reading The Steady State Theory


