Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Elon Musk’s Mars manifesto

What if the cost of going to Mars as a colonist were less than US $200,000, or about the median cost of a house in the U.S.? Would you go? Elon Musk thinks many would.

Deborah Byrd

June 18, 2017

A ribbon of ammonia in Orion

Radio telescopes have detected a 50-light-year filament of star-forming gas, zigzagging its way through the northern portion of the Orion Molecular Cloud.

Deborah Byrd

June 18, 2017

Saturn over New York City

Think you can't see stars or planets from the city? Check out these 2 photos of Saturn over New York.

Deborah Byrd

June 17, 2017

Did our sun have a twin?

A new analysis suggests the likely answer is yes — though not an identical twin. And so did every other sunlike star.

Deborah Byrd

June 14, 2017

Milky Way over the Everglades

Watch this video, showing Earth spinning under the sky of the southern Everglades in Florida.

Deborah Byrd

June 14, 2017

Galaxies have aligned for 10 billion years

Most galaxies are randomly oriented in space, but the biggest ones often point toward their neighbors. A new study traces these alignments back into the early universe.

Deborah Byrd

June 13, 2017

Dwarf star bends light, confirms Einstein

Awesome observation! Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the mass of a nearby white dwarf, as it bent the light of a more distant star.

Deborah Byrd

June 10, 2017

Fav photos: 2017’s smallest full moon

EarthSky friends outdid themselves this weekend, taking photos of the full moon. Thanks to all who contributed!

Deborah Byrd

June 10, 2017

This week, a daytime meteor shower

The Arietid meteor shower is the strongest daylight shower of the year. It lasts from late May through early June. Will you see any meteors? Maybe. Try around the morning of June 7.

Deborah Byrd

June 6, 2017

Last night’s moon and Jupiter

The EarthSky community comes through again! Wonderful photos of the moon and Jupiter on June 3, 2017, from around the world.

Deborah Byrd

June 4, 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.