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
Tag: Science
The Steady State Theory
This post, the latest in my series about cosmology, the study of the origin and evolution of the Universe as a whole, talks about the Steady State theory. This is an elegant alternative theory to the Big Bang, which was very popular among astronomers in the 1950s, although it has now been discarded. What is the Steady… Continue reading The Steady State Theory
Ultimate Fate of the Universe
This post, which is the latest in my series on cosmology, is about the ultimate fate of the Universe, a subject which has engaged scientists, philosophers and religious leaders for centuries. There are many possible endings to the Universe, but the outline I will present here, which is sometimes called "The Big Freeze", is the most commonly held… Continue reading Ultimate Fate of the Universe
The Future of humanity
As described in my previous post (The Future of the Sun), in about 5 billion years time the Sun will swell up to at least 100 times its current diameter and this will make the surface of the Earth far too hot to sustain life. What Sunrise might look like when the Sun is a red… Continue reading The Future of humanity
The Future of the Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of our Solar System and its sunlight provides energy which is essential for life on Earth. The two key natural units of measuring periods of time, the year and the day, are both based upon the Earth's motion with respect to the Sun and in many ancient cultures… Continue reading The Future of the Sun
