Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Favorite Perseid meteor shower photos

2018 was an exceptional year for August's tried and true Perseid meteor shower.

Deborah Byrd

August 14, 2018

Wow! Zoom to the Milky Way’s center

Decades of work have gone into probing the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Click in for a video showing stars orbiting the 4-million-solar-mass black hole at our galaxy's core.

Deborah Byrd

August 14, 2018

Was the outer solar system shaped by a stellar fly-by?

Computer modeling suggests that - billions of years ago, when our solar system was young - a star swept near, stealing some of our sun's material and creating the odd orbits of Kuiper Belt objects.

Deborah Byrd

August 13, 2018

A spacecraft to touch the sun

Launch of the daredevil Parker Solar Probe - which will get closer to the sun than any spacecraft in human history - has been delayed until Sunday, August 12.

Deborah Byrd

August 11, 2018

Fire cloud over California, from space

A pyrocumulus cloud - sometimes called a fire cloud - forms when intense heat from wildfires causes air to rise. Californians have been seeing these towering clouds this July and August.

Deborah Byrd

August 10, 2018

Sky-wide rays

Familiar crepuscular rays and less well known anticrepuscular rays are really one and the same.

Deborah Byrd

August 9, 2018

Draw a line between the 4 bright planets up after sunset now, and you'll see they make an arc across the sky. In this photo, Michael Seeley in Florida contrasted the arc of planets with that of the Milky Way.

Deborah Byrd

August 8, 2018

Look toward our galaxy’s center

On the night of August 26, a waxing crescent moon will set in early evening. So you'll have dark time to find the Teapot asterism and let it guide you to our Milky Way's center.

Deborah Byrd

August 7, 2018

Reaching to the stars

Photographer Miska Saarikko titled this image Reaching to the Stars.

Deborah Byrd

July 31, 2018

Full moon eclipse and Mars

Mars was brighter in late July than it had been since 2003. Then - on July 27 - that very bright Mars appeared near the moon as it was undergoing a total eclipse.

Deborah Byrd

July 28, 2018

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.