Happy New Year to all my readers and followers. I hope that you all will continue to read and enjoy my blog 🙂 For many people living in the USA the most memorable event of the coming year will not be the inauguration of the new president but the total solar eclipse, which I'll talk about… Continue reading Happy New Year 2017
On New Year's Eve an extra second will be added to the end of the day. This extra second is called a leap second. As I'll explain later, leap seconds need to be added periodically to bring the time we measure with accurate atomic clocks in line with the natural time which results from the rotation of the… Continue reading December 31 2016 Leap Second
The June solstice will fall on June 20 or June 21 this year, depending on where you are in the world. It is the longest day in the northern hemisphere and the day when the Sun is at its highest in the midday sky (see note). The origin of the word solstice is from the Latin words sol,… Continue reading June 20- The Solstice
The Earth is unique among the inner planets in our Solar System (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) in that it has a strong magnetic field. It is this invisible field which causes the needle of a compass to point North that has been used by navigators for centuries and is used by migrating birds and some land… Continue reading The Earth’s magnetic field
Now that we are in the month of March, for most of us in the northern hemisphere the worst of the winter is over, and it is only a couple of weeks until 21 March, the first day of spring. 21 March is an important date for other reasons, too. For one thing, it is used as the basis for the… Continue reading The first day of spring
Explaining Science 