Russell Deeks
Science writer
Russell Deeks is a freelance journalist specialising in science and technology. He has been an occasional contributor to BBC Sky at Night Magazine since 2006.
Recent articles by Russell Deeks
Why can't we feel Earth spinning?
Donut Earth
How fast does the Earth spin? It's a question that's not as simple to answer as you might think
Olympus Mons, largest volcano in the Solar System
Ever seen a green Moon? Here's why our Moon can never really be green, and where the myth came from
Ancient stargazing software? A brief history of the orrery and where you can see the biggest in the world
Earth from space | Great Barrier Reef
How long is a year on each planet?
29 of the scariest things in space
Take our tour of terror through the cosmos.
Schumann resonances explained
What colour really is Pluto, and how accurate are the images we see of it?
Why is Mercury called Mercury?
Earth doesn't have rings, but it may once have (and humans have done a good job trying to give it some)
Gallery | Crescent Nebula
Pictures of the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, and facts about this beautiful deep-sky emission nebula powered by an ageing Wolf-Rayet star.
The South Pole-Aitken Basin is a colossal, ancient impact crater on the far side of the Moon
Dark side of the Moon? There's no such thing. Here's why
The biggest thing in the Universe is the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, measuring 10 billion lightyears across
The Milky Way and other galaxies are being pulled towards a point in space known as the Great Attractor
The story of Kepler-22b, the first exoplanet discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of its host star
Emission nebula vs reflection nebula
Confused about emission and reflection nebulae? This is our primer explaining the difference between the two.
Black hole TON 618
TON 618 is a contender for largest black hole discovered, being 40 billion times the mass of the Sun and 30-40 as wide as our Solar System.
Richat Structure from space
What is the strange bull's eye in the Sahara, oft photographed from space?
There are appear to be hundreds of spiders on Mars, but what actually are these strange formations?
How old is Earth?
A guide to the history of our planet's formation around the Sun, and just how old current estimates believe Earth to be.