Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Moon, Venus, Mars on December 3

The moon is sandwiched between very bright Venus and fainter, reddish Mars this evening. Watch for them in the sunset direction, shortly after the sun goes down.

Deborah Byrd

December 3, 2016

It’s a bird, a plane, the tiniest asteroid!

Asteroid 2015 TC25 is small enough to be straddled by a person, reminiscent of the iconic bomb-riding scene in the movie Dr. Strangelove. It swept between us and the moon a year ago.

Deborah Byrd

December 2, 2016

Moon and Venus on December 1, 2016

Did you see the very young waxing crescent moon on November 30? It'll be easier to see on December 1, low in the west after sunset, below a very bright object ... Venus!

Deborah Byrd

December 1, 2016

First images from ExoMars mission

A camera on board ESA's ExoMars mission has returned its first images from orbit. It was meant to be a test, but the images are spectacular.

Deborah Byrd

November 29, 2016

Supernovas and ultra-diffuse galaxies

These strange galaxies have 1,000 times fewer stars than the Milky Way, yet occupy a large space. Astronomers used an advanced computer simulation to show that supernova explosions helped create them.

Deborah Byrd

November 29, 2016

Children depict scientists as men

In a recent study, when researchers asked children to draw a scientist, the children most often depicted a bald, middle-aged man in a white coat. More study results here.

Deborah Byrd

November 29, 2016

Northern lights from the air

Photos of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, shot from an airplane over the icy Canadian landscape and approximate North Pole.

Deborah Byrd

November 29, 2016

IAU approves 227 star names

The International Astronomical Union - which has given itself responsibility to name and define things in space - has now joined the rest of us in recognizing traditional star names.

Deborah Byrd

November 28, 2016

Night-shining clouds over Antarctica

The AIM spacecraft has spotted noctilucent clouds - aka night-shining clouds - above Earth's southernmost continent. The season for them started early this year!

Deborah Byrd

November 27, 2016

Vast underground water ice on Mars

Water ice can't persist on Mars surface in the region of Utopia Planitia, about halfway from Mars' equator to its pole. But researchers say there's water in a vast frozen lake underground.

Eleanor Imster

Deborah Byrd

November 26, 2016

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.