Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Amateur astronomer captures a supernova’s 1st light

Supernovae - exploding stars - are unpredictable. But an amateur astronomer in Argentina happened to catch one just as it began to explode. "It's like winning the cosmic lottery," one astronomer said.

Deborah Byrd

February 21, 2018

X-men

The northern lights have been active this week for those at high northern latitudes.

Deborah Byrd

February 21, 2018

Will you see the Humanity Star?

The debate surrounding the Humanity Star. Is it possible to see? Can you see it from your location? How to try to see it, if it's visible, here.

Deborah Byrd

February 20, 2018

New Year greeting from Canis Major

Sirius, the sky's brightest star, is sometimes called the Dog Star because it's in the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog. In this Chinese Year of the Dog ... a photo from Hong Kong.

Deborah Byrd

February 20, 2018

Return of the young moon, and Venus

Two lovely and hopeful signs in the sky ... the returning young moon and Venus. Photos here from the EarthSky community.

Deborah Byrd

February 19, 2018

Hubble sees Neptune’s dark storm die

In the 1980s, Voyager 2 discovered a dark storm in Neptune's dense atmosphere, and now the Hubble Space Telescope is tracking Neptune's storms. More in this NASA video.

Deborah Byrd

February 18, 2018

ALMA telescope spies a supermassive black hole’s spinning disk

For decades, astronomers have been talking about of galaxies with supermassive black holes at their cores. Now they say they've clearly confirmed a black hole's encircling, dusty, spinning disk of gas.

Deborah Byrd

February 17, 2018

See it! Partial solar eclipse

View photos of the February 15, 2018 partial solar eclipse, which was visible from South America.

Deborah Byrd

February 16, 2018

Interstellar asteroid’s tumble suggests a violent past

The 1st known interstellar asteroid - 'Oumuamua - is tumbling chaotically. A new study suggests its tumble resulted from a violent collision.

Deborah Byrd

February 14, 2018

Jupiter’s North Temperate Belt

Did you know that NASA encourages people to download the RAW images from Juno's ongoing flybys of Jupiter, and also to process them?

Deborah Byrd

February 13, 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.