These are some of my cosmology posts
-
The International Space Station updated
Since the publication of the original post on 2 August 2018, NASA have delayed the planned launch dates for the American spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. In my original post I referred to the Boeing and SpaceX spacecraft taking astronauts this year, which was an ambitious target, bearing in mind that it…
-
The International Space Station
Updated 24 December 2025 Image from NASA. The first module of the ISS, called Zarya, was launched by a Russian rocket back in November 1998. Zarya was not an inhabitable module and its function was to provide electrical power, storage and propulsion to the ISS during the initial stages of assembly. Interesting the word ‘Zarya’…
-
Lunar eclipse 27 July 2018
On 27 July 2018 there will be a total eclipse of the Moon, which will be viewable from many areas of the world. This will be the first total lunar eclipse able to be observed in the UK for nearly three years and it will be worth making the effort to see, especially since, for…
-
The Martian Methane Mystery
In 2014, NASA’s Curiosity rover detected methane on Mars, suggesting an unknown replenishing process due to its short atmospheric lifespan. While Earth’s methane largely originates from biological sources, the Martian findings remain ambiguous. Subsequent missions, including ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter, reported no detectable methane, deepening the mystery.… Continue reading The Martian Methane Mystery →
-
June 21 2018 – the solstice
This year, the June solstice will fall on 21 June. In the northern hemisphere, it is the day when there is the most daylight and when the Sun is at its highest in the midday sky. Sunrise at the solstice at Stonehenge, England – image from Wikimedia commons The origin of the word solstice is…
-
The anthropic principle.
The post discusses the anthropic principle, which suggests that the laws of physics and the universe are finely tuned for life. Introduced by Brandon Carter in 1973, it highlights how slight changes in fundamental forces would prevent life. The article contrasts strong and weak anthropic principles and touches upon concepts like the Omega Point and…
-
Jupiter at opposition 9 May 2018
On May 9 Jupiter is at opposition. This event, which occurs every 399 days, happens when Jupiter is at its closest to the Earth and at its brightest. To the naked eye it is a brilliant white object, three times brighter than the brightest star. Features such as coloured bands and the famous great red…
-
The Rare Earth hypothesis
Updated 15 December 2025 Ever since the pioneering work of Frank Drake (1930-2022) way back in 1960, astronomers have been looking for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilisations but all SETI searches have failed to find anything. This could be because Earth-like planets containing complex life forms (such as ourselves) are rare in the Universe and only…
-
Galileo and the telescope
Updated March 2026 Telescopes are instruments which use multiple lenses to produce magnified images of distant objects. It is unclear who invented the first telescope: lenses had been widely used in Europe to correct poor eyesight since the fourteenth century and I expect that, over time, the telescope was actually invented many times by different…
-
20 March 2018 – the equinox
Now that we are in the month of March, it is only a short time until 21 March, the first day of spring (or first day of autumn if you’re one of my readers in the southern hemisphere). There is a commonly held view that 21 March is an equinox and that the equinoxes are the two…
Explaining Science 