Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Impossibly starry skies over NYC

This week is International Dark Sky Week. Celebrate by watching this impossible, but magical, video of dark, starry skies over light-polluted New York City. It's new from Project Skyglow.

Deborah Byrd

April 15, 2018

Theorists describe black hole megamergers

"Binary black holes are basically like giant targets hanging out in a globular star cluster, and as you throw other black holes or stars at them, they undergo these crazy chaotic encounters."

Deborah Byrd

April 15, 2018

Milky Way over the saguaros

A symbol of American West, set against a symbol of the vast universe, caught last week in Saguaro National Park.

Deborah Byrd

April 15, 2018

Flyover of Jupiter’s north pole in infrared

See what scientists saw this week at a meeting in Vienna. It's a 3-D fly-around of Jupiter's north pole, showing its central cyclone and the 8 smaller cyclones encircling it.

Deborah Byrd

April 13, 2018

In infrared, Io appears alive with volcanos

The Juno spacecraft, now orbiting Jupiter, acquired this infrared image of the giant planet's moon Io. Each fiery dot is an active volcano.

Deborah Byrd

April 13, 2018

IAU approves names for Pluto’s moon Charon

NASA held a public naming contest in 2015, just before New Horizons' sweep past Pluto and Charon. The spacecraft mission team has used many of the Charon feature names since. Now the IAU gives the names the nod.

Deborah Byrd

April 12, 2018

Cosmic gorilla effect could blind detection of aliens

Could it be that the more rational and methodical searches for extraterrestrial intelligence are overlooking "the gorilla in the room?" A new study suggests it's possible.

Deborah Byrd

April 11, 2018

Aurora dolphin

Seeing animal shapes in clouds - or the northern lights - is what's called pareidolia.

Deborah Byrd

April 10, 2018

Giant sun tornadoes aren’t spinning

Two-dimensional images of these solar prominences make them look as if they're spinning, and astronomers have long assumed they were. But new research says no.

Deborah Byrd

April 9, 2018

Little cloud making whoopee

To make whoopee can mean "to engage in uproarious merrymaking." Linda Holtby said she caught this shot from 38,900 feet (11,860 meters) up.

Deborah Byrd

April 9, 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.