Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Preparing for the solar eclipse

As the total solar eclipse nears, photographers like Gowrishankar Lakshminarayanan are testing their equipment and settings.

Deborah Byrd

August 5, 2017

Rainbow over Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

We usually see photos from photographer Josh Blash from the Atlantic coast, up around New Hampshire. This photo of Juárez - in the Chihuahuan Desert - was a delightful surprise.

Deborah Byrd

August 4, 2017

Watch for Cassiopeia the Queen

Find the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen in the northeastern sky after sundown. Depending on your perspective look for the telltale shape W or M.

Deborah Byrd

August 3, 2017

Sun’s core rotates 4x faster than surface

Eureka! After decades of puzzling about whether the sun's core spins faster than its surface, astronomers can now measure it.

Deborah Byrd

August 2, 2017

Anticrepuscular rays with rainbow

These 2 sky phenomena - anticrepuscular rays and rainbows - can appear separately. In this case, they appear together, both originating from the same source, the sun, on the opposite side of the sky.

Deborah Byrd

August 2, 2017

No Earth-like atmosphere for Proxima b

It's the nearest exoplanet and in its star's habitable zone. But a new study suggests radiation from its star would drain an Earth-like atmosphere 10,000 times faster than on Earth.

Deborah Byrd

August 1, 2017

Moon near star Antares on August 1

Antares is a red star in the south each summer. It was considered the Fire Star of the ancient Chinese.

Deborah Byrd

August 1, 2017

Big Dipper to Polaris, Mizar, Alcor

Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star. Then notice the two stars Mizar and Alcor in the Big Dipper’s handle.

Deborah Byrd

August 1, 2017

Storm moving in

Niccole Kowalski said she witnessed this rainbow on Saturday, forming over the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, while a storm was moving in.

Deborah Byrd

July 31, 2017

Sun halo with 2 contrail shadows

The sun is casting shadows of an aircraft contrail downwards onto thin cirrus haze layers below. Higher above, ice crystals in cirrus clouds have created a 22-degree halo around the sun.

Deborah Byrd

July 31, 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.