Posts by

Deborah Byrd

It’s smoky in the Pacific Northwest

The smoke is from wildfires, an increasingly common occurrence at this time of year. It can't be welcome news to those who've planned trips to that area for the August 21 total solar eclipse.

Deborah Byrd

August 10, 2017

Wishing on a shooting star

Grant Miller captured this self-portrait during 2016's Perseid meteor shower. 2017's shower has interference from the moon, but you still might see a bright meteor!

Deborah Byrd

August 9, 2017

Intense Antarctic melt season causes decade-long effects

Multi-decade study reveals changes in Antarctica's Dry Valleys and suggests "significant transformations of Antarctic ecosystems are underway now and will continue to be affected by future climate events."

Deborah Byrd

August 8, 2017

See it! Full moon and partial eclipse

We in the Americas missed the partial lunar eclipse. Or maybe you were clouded out ... or slept through it? See it after all, in these awesome photos from EarthSky friends from around the world.

Deborah Byrd

August 7, 2017

Is 2014 MU69 composed of 2 objects?

The next target for the New Horizons spacecraft - which passed Pluto in 2015 - reveals itself, intriguingly, to be a possible contact binary, that is, 2 objects in 1.

Deborah Byrd

August 6, 2017

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

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.