These are some of my cosmology posts
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The Steady State Theory
Revised Auust 2026 There is also a video about the Steady State theory on the Explaining Science YouTube channel. 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 Steady…
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20 July 1969 The First Men on the Moon
It has been a very exciting week for space exploration with the pictures sent from New Horizons as it flew past Pluto on Tuesday. Monday next week (20-th July) marks the 46-th anniversary of the first landing on men on the Moon, which was one of the iconic events of the last century. To celebrate this anniversary…
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New Horizons
On 14 July 2015 the New Horizons Spacecraft will fly past the dwarf planet Pluto which lies on the edge of our Solar System. This is the culmination of a nine and half year voyage which started when it was launched in back in January 2006. Artist’s Impression of New Horizons passing Pluto – Image…
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The June Solstice
The June solstice, which for most of the world will fall on June 21 this year, 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, which means Sun, and sistere, to stand…
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Jun 30 2015 – Leap Second
On June 30 2015 an extra second will be inserted into the very end of the day. This extra second is called a leap second. Why do we need leap seconds? Although we take the average length of a day to be 24 hours, the mean solar day, or average “natural” day measured by the…
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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…
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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…
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The Future of the Sun
The Sun, central to our Solar System, generates energy through nuclear fusion, combining hydrogen into helium. Over billions of years, it will evolve into a red giant, ultimately shedding outer layers to form a planetary nebula and becoming a white dwarf. Life on Earth will become uninhabitable well before these changes occur.… Continue reading The…
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Easter Sunday 5-th April
Updated March 2026 In 2026, for the majority of Christians, Sunday 5 April will be Easter Sunday, one of the most of the most important dates in the Christian calendar. The Pope gives a traditional Easter Message from the Vatican Easter is also widely marked by non Christians. In many countries chocolate Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies…
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Solar Eclipse 20 March
Some of us living in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to view a solar eclipse on Friday 20 March 2015. Most people will only see a partial eclipse, but some lucky people living in a particular region will experience a total eclipse. When this happens the Sun is completely obscured and it goes dark during the period…
Explaining Science 