Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Vibrant sundog

A sundog - a piece of a larger halo around the sun or moon - is caused by tiny ice crystals in the upper air.

Sliding stone, Death Valley

Here's a beautiful image of a sliding (or sailing or slithering) stone at Death Valley's famous Racetrack Playa. Cat Connor caught it on Christmas Day 2014.

Leo and Chinese guardian lions

An earthly lion guards the gates, while, in the sky, a celestial Lion - Leo - ascends. Astrophotographer Jeff Dai of China tells the story.

Stardust sheds light on 1st stars

Astronomers observed a young galaxy, existing when the universe was only 4% of its current age. It had a mass of interstellar dust, formed during explosions of an earlier generation of stars.

GOES-16’s 1st flashy images

Detecting and predicting severe weather just got easier, scientists announced, with the 1st images from a new Lightning Mapper onboard NOAA’s new GOES-16 satellite.

Beautiful video: Dolphin stampede

Truly one of the most wonderful videos we've seen. If you watch, you'll see thousands of dolphins, plus a whale calf snuggling with its mom.

Ceres’ bright spots are young

Scientists have learned that dwarf planet Ceres' bright spots are only 4 million years old. To geologists, youth means activity and, in this case, ice volcanos.

Webb telescope to probe 7 worlds

The nearness of 7 newly found Earth-sized planets - and the smallness their host star - make them perfect targets for the new space telescope that'll be Hubble's successor.

Astronomers respond to 7-planet find

Love this video of astronomers showing their excitement about the discovery of 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting a nearby star.

March 4 moon hides Aldebaran

The occultation by the moon of Aldebaran - brightest star in Taurus the Bull - was visible from North America. Great set of photos here from the EarthSky community!