Posts by

Deborah Byrd

North Pole gets a heat wave

Unseasonably, in recent days, the temperature at the North Pole has soared to the melting point of ice. That's about 30-35 degrees F (17-19 C) above normal.

Deborah Byrd

May 10, 2018

Springtime at Ladd Observatory

Ladd Observatory is located at Brown University in Providence in the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

Deborah Byrd

May 10, 2018

Will Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano explode?

Volcano scientists issued a second Orange Alert on Wednesday. "At this time, we cannot say with certainty that explosive activity will occur, how large the explosions could be, or how long such explosive activity could continue."

Deborah Byrd

May 9, 2018

Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Here are images and video from its ongoing eruption in Hawaii.

Eleanor Imster

Deborah Byrd

May 9, 2018

Astronomers report success with machine deep learning

Deep learning is a form of artificial intelligence. In 2 unrelated studies, astronomers report "surprising" success using it to perform research that's hard or impossible otherwise.

Deborah Byrd

May 8, 2018

Eta Aquariid in moonlight

Who says you can't catch meteors in moonlight? Check out this beautiful shot of one of this weekend's Eta Aquariid meteors from Eliot Herman in Tucson.

Deborah Byrd

May 6, 2018

Wall-E and Eva are going to Mars, too

Riding along with the InSight Mars mission, the 2 briefcase-sized CubeSats are designed to demonstrate nearly real-time communications between worlds.

Deborah Byrd

May 4, 2018

Root of the rainbow

A rainbow happens when sunlight hits water droplets in the air. Look opposite the sun after or during a rain shower.

Deborah Byrd

May 3, 2018

Does Stephen Hawking’s final theory tame the multiverse?

"I have never been a fan of the multiverse. If the scale of different universes in the multiverse is large or infinite the theory can’t be tested."

Deborah Byrd

May 2, 2018

Gaia sees LMC stars as galactic fingerprint

It resembles a fingerprint, doesn't it? But it's really a galaxy, rotating. This image is from ESA's Gaia space observatory. It shows the rotation of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Deborah Byrd

May 2, 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.