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
In 2024 September 22 is the date of the September equinox and is also the first day of autumn (or the first day of spring if you're one of my readers in the Southern Hemisphere). In this post I’ll talk about the equinoxes and discus the commonly held, but not quite correct, view that they… Continue reading September 22 2024 – the equinox
Revised and updated 12 February 2026 July 25, is one of the four days a year in which the length of the apparent solar day, the natural day measured by the rising and setting of the Sun, is 24 hours. I have written about this in previous posts but I thought it be worth mentioning… Continue reading Understanding Solar Day Length Variation
Revised 18 December 2025 -original post published in 2024 In 2024, for the majority of the world’s Christians, March 31 was Easter Sunday, one of the most important dates in the calendar. Although Easter originated as the festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, it is also widely marked by non-Christians in the UK, particularly as… Continue reading Easter March 31 2024
This year, the northern hemisphere winter solstice will fall on 22 December. On this date there are the fewest hours of daylight and, during the day, the Sun reaches its lowest elevation. The origin of the word solstice is from two Latin words: sol, which means Sun, and sistere, to stand still. At the time of the winter… Continue reading December 22 2023 – the solstice
Explaining Science 