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Posts by Deborah Byrd

May 20, 2013 tornado in Moore, OK
May 21, 2013

Death toll expected to rise from Moore tornado, now stands at 51

Twenty of at least 51 confirmed deaths were children. The Oklahoma medical examiners office has been told to expect at least 40 more bodies.

Via TornadoChasers.com
FAQs | May 20, 2013

What are the 10 deadliest U.S. tornadoes?

The 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, is the only storm to make the list within the past 60 years

Look west after sunset on May 25, 26, 27
Blogs | May 20, 2013

Sky alert: Jupiter, Venus, Mercury closer and closer!

Between now and the end of May, watch for Venus, Jupiter and Mercury gathered in the bright twilight. They’ll soon form a bright triangle.

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Tonight | May 20, 2013

Drive a spike to Spica – and find Saturn – in May 2013

Once you’ve used the Big Dipper to find the orange star Arcturus, you can continue on to find the star Spica – and the planet Saturn.

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Tonight | May 19, 2013

Follow the arc to the star Arcturus in May

Now is the perfect time to look outside in the evening and learn a phrase useful to sky watchers: Follow the arc to Arcturus.

Blood Falls in Antarctica via ScienceNow in 2009
Blogs | May 19, 2013

Blood Falls, five stories high, seeps from an Antarctic glacier

The bright red waterfall – dubbed Blood Falls by geologists who discovered it in 1911 – is the work of microbes trapped beneath ice for nearly 2 million years.

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Tonight | May 18, 2013

A very distant star, Deneb, and measuring star distances

The star Deneb, in the Summer Triangle, is 1,500 light-years away – or more.

northumberland-Adrian-Strand-May-2013
Today's Image | May 17, 2013

May day in an English meadow by the sea

This meadow in Northumberland, overlooking the North Sea, typifies a landscape that many of us outside the UK imagine, when we think of England.

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Tonight | May 17, 2013

See it! Ringed planet Saturn still at its best

We passed between the sun and Saturn on April 28. May 2013 is a good time to see Saturn. Tips and charts that’ll let you locate the ringed planet.

Image via J. Telling and Nature.
Blogs | May 16, 2013

Billion-year-old water found in reservoir under Ontario

Researchers don’t know yet whether anything has been living in the water, which has been out of contact with Earth’s atmosphere for over a billion years.