Posts by

Deborah Byrd

NASA announces 2 new asteroid missions

NASA's new Lucy mission will tour 6 Trojan asteroids in Jupiter's orbit. The other mission will go to 16 Psyche, a metal asteroid.

Deborah Byrd

January 7, 2017

Black hole bonanza in deep x-ray image

A new ultra-deep X-ray image from Chandra X-ray Observatory has given astronomers their best look yet at the growth of black holes over billions of years, starting soon after the Big Bang.

Deborah Byrd

January 7, 2017

Star predicted to explode in 2022

If and when 2 stars in this binary system merge - as predicted - they'll increase in brightness 10 thousandfold, temporarily becoming a bright star in Earth's sky.

Deborah Byrd

January 6, 2017

Bokeh effect in Orion

Notice the colors of Orion's stars in this photo that's slightly out-of-focus. Chirag Upreti wrote: "This is a 'bokeh effect,' and turns out it works really well on celestial bodies!"

Deborah Byrd

January 6, 2017

Spectacular new image of Orion A

Don't miss these gorgeous images from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope of the Orion Molecular Cloud complex, a place in space where new stars are forming.

Deborah Byrd

January 5, 2017

Home galaxy found for fast radio burst

In a breakthrough study, astronomers pinpointed the location in the sky of a fast radio burst. That let them determine its home galaxy, and improve their theories about its cause.

Deborah Byrd

January 5, 2017

Aurora alert! Thanks to huge coronal hole

The hole is gigantic and facing Earth's way. Possible aurora sightings at the latitude of the northern U.S. – for example, in Michigan or Maine – on January 4 and 5.

Deborah Byrd

January 4, 2017

Light pillars over Sun Valley, Idaho

Ice crystals in the air create these beautiful, upward shafts of light.

Deborah Byrd

January 4, 2017

See it! Moon sweeps past Venus and Mars

As 2017 opens, the young moon is sweeping past dazzling Venus in the west after sunset. Mars is there, too, and, for those with optical aid, Neptune! Photos here.

Deborah Byrd

January 3, 2017

Geese flying along anticrepuscular rays

Elusive anticrepuscular rays converge towards a point on the sky opposite the sun. Karl Diefenderfer caught them as 2016 came to a close, as a flock of geese was passing by.

Deborah Byrd

January 1, 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.