Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Astronomers find a pitch-black planet

Exoplanet WASP-12b has the unique capability to trap 94 percent of the visible starlight falling into its atmosphere. The result is a world as black as fresh asphalt.

Deborah Byrd

September 17, 2017

Venus’ mysterious night side revealed

Researchers using Venus Express spacecraft data report "stationary waves" and slowly moving features in the planet's upper clouds, during Venus' long and mysterious night.

Deborah Byrd

September 16, 2017

Outer space

"I'm a daydreamer and a nightthinker," wrote photographer Manuel Dietrich.

Deborah Byrd

September 16, 2017

More Cassini legacy: Titan’s bonkers atmosphere

Cassini's legacy will endure. Click for a video about the atmosphere of Saturn's large moon Titan, which might resemble that of an early Earth.

Deborah Byrd

September 15, 2017

Does organic material in comets predate our solar system?

"If cometary organic molecules were indeed produced in interstellar space—and if they played a role in the emergence of life on our planet—might they not also have seeded life on many other planets of our galaxy?"

Deborah Byrd

September 13, 2017

Our Age of Humans in a galactic context

A proposed new classification system - somewhat like the well-known Kardashev scale for classifying extraterrestrial civilizations - and a new way of thinking about human sustainability on Earth.

Deborah Byrd

September 12, 2017

Last night’s moon over Freedom Tower

Photo taken from Exchange Place, Jersey City, New Jersey.

Deborah Byrd

September 12, 2017

Cassini makes ‘goodbye kiss’ flyby of Titan

NASA said Cassini's final flyby of Titan - Saturn's large moon - went as planned. The spacecraft is now on a course that'll take it inside Saturn's atmosphere, for a fiery end to its mission, on September 15.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2017

Pluto craft wakes from hibernation

And last week mission scientists filed a flight plan for New Horizons' next flyby - of the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 - in early 2019. It'll be farthest encounter yet between an earthly spacecraft and distant solar system body.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2017

NASA ponders Saturn mission legacy

A statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Cassini mission success at Saturn, and on where solar system exploration will go from here.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2017

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.