Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Asteroid buzzed Earth and moon January 25

Asteroid 2017 BX - found just days ago - is maybe about as big as a house. It passed safely Tuesday night or Wednesday, depending on your time zone.

Deborah Byrd

January 25, 2017

Hole-punch clouds over SoCal

Hole-punch clouds result from a combination of cold temperatures, air traffic, and atmospheric instability. Conditions were ripe for making them over southern California last weekend.

Deborah Byrd

January 25, 2017

New Earth images from GOES-16

The satellite's 1st images since its launch a few months ago. GOES-16 provides 4 times the image resolution - 4 times more detail - than earlier GOES satellites. Weather forecasters are excited!

Deborah Byrd

January 23, 2017

What’s killing these galaxies?

It’s an astrophysical whodunnit. Across the universe, galaxies are being killed. Scientists want to know, what’s killing them?

Deborah Byrd

January 23, 2017

Favorite photos from this weekend

The EarthSky community on Facebook outdid itself posting photos over the weekend of January 20-22, 2017. Thanks, everybody! Editors' picks here.

Deborah Byrd

January 22, 2017

$40 billion a day for solar super-storms

The probability of another event like the 1859 Carrington event is - at any given time - low. But many believe it's "almost inevitable" one will occur, eventually. A new study explores the risks.

Deborah Byrd

January 20, 2017

Mars rover examines possible mud cracks

The site on Mars is called Old Soaker. It seems to have cracks, as in a dry lake bed. These may be Curiosity's 1st confirmed mud cracks. If so, they're keys to understanding an ancient, warmer, wetter Mars.

Deborah Byrd

Eleanor Imster

January 19, 2017

Moon, Jupiter, Jupiter’s moons

Jupiter and its Galilean moons with Earth's moon at the last quarter phase, captured Thursday morning.

Deborah Byrd

January 19, 2017

Space sounds film competition, 2017

Both young and established filmmakers are invited to use real sound recorded in space in a new competition launched by Queen Mary University of London. Details here.

Deborah Byrd

January 19, 2017

Solar system montage

A very cool composite of real images from an excellent astrophotographer.

Deborah Byrd

January 19, 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.