Astronomy Archives - Colin Stuart

What size of piano is needed to play universe’s lowest note?

Colin Stuart — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 11:43:30 +0000

Most of us have a very limited vocal range. The average human singing voice encompasses just three octaves, where an octave spans eight ascending musical notes in such a way that the last note is twice the frequency of the first. Sometimes well trained singers can push the boundaries further. It is said that a […]

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What if the Moon was really made of cheese?

Colin Stuart — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 11:24:39 +0000

Of all the stories we pass on from generation to generation, one of the most persistent is that the Moon is made of cheese. The idea is a very old one, dating back at least as far as 1546 to The Proverbs of John Heywood which carries the line “the moon is made of a […]

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Asteroid (15347) Colinstuart

Colin Stuart — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 13:02:33 +0000

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Why your bathroom taps have been lying to you for years

Colin Stuart — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 12:31:28 +0000

Do you ever get the sense that you’re being lied to? That those around you have fed you untruths your entire life and no-one else seems to question it? I’m not talking about the latest twists in the current crazy political landscape or any half-baked conspiracy theories about the Sun’s evil, unseen twin. No, I […]

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The day hasn’t always been 24 hours long, and it’s getting longer

Colin Stuart — Wed, 17 May 2017 11:37:08 +0000

The day may be 24 hours long now, but that hasn’t always been the case. Nor will it be the case in the far future. The Earth’s rotation is slowing under the gravitational influence of the Moon. Billions of years ago, the day was just 18 hours long. The Moon and the Earth tug on […]

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The ingenious way Victorian astronomers communicated comet discoveries

Colin Stuart — Mon, 15 May 2017 10:10:55 +0000

In today’s hyper-connected world we take communication for granted. A few taps and you can fire a message around the world in seconds. You can even tweet from space. But things weren’t also so easy, and back in the 1880s the technology of the day was hampering astronomical progress. The trouble was with comets – […]

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The Cosmic Microwave Background

Colin Stuart — Wed, 03 May 2017 10:18:08 +0000

The theory that our universe began with a ‘big bang’ is one of the most famous ideas in all of science. It has seeped into popular culture, too, with one of the most famous television shows in the world named after it. Yet, despite its fame, it was only confirmed beyond reasonable doubt in the […]

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