Posts by

Deborah Byrd

China joins search for alien life

China's big new radio telescope - now the largest of its type in the world - will join Breakthrough Listen experiments in the U.S. and Australia in seeking extraterrestrial signals.

Deborah Byrd

October 15, 2016

Mars and the Teapot

Modern stargazers have a hard time seeing a Centaur in the constellation Sagittarius. But the pattern of The Teapot is easy to make out.

Deborah Byrd

October 14, 2016

Hubble reveals 10 times more galaxies

The universe suddenly looks a lot more crowded, thanks to a deep-sky census assembled from surveys taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories.

Deborah Byrd

October 13, 2016

The graceful arc of the ecliptic

The ecliptic is the path of the sun across our sky, and also of the moon and planets. This photo illustrates it beautifully.

Deborah Byrd

October 13, 2016

The Milky Way’s ancient heart

Astronomers found RR Lyrae stars at our Milky Way galaxy's core. They now believe ancient globular star clusters may have merged to form the core of the Milky Way.

Deborah Byrd

October 12, 2016

The fate of worlds orbiting 2 suns

These Tatooine worlds, as they're called, might be the ultimate survivors, as their 2 stars begin aging in ways that are sometimes threatening or even catastrophic.

Deborah Byrd

October 12, 2016

Mercury and Jupiter before dawn

A lucky few caught the Mercury-Jupiter conjunction this week, because these worlds are so near the sunrise. Thank you to all who contributed!

Deborah Byrd

October 12, 2016

Dueling lights

Milky Way vs. zodiacal light! Captured over beautiful Yamdrok Lake in Tibet.

Deborah Byrd

October 11, 2016

Wildfires in US West doubled in 30 years

A warmer climate has helped send thousands of square miles up in flames, says a new study, which links climate change with the wildfire increase.

Deborah Byrd

October 10, 2016

Our universe has no direction

The universe isn't spinning or stretched in any particular direction, according to stringent tests from scientists in London.

Deborah Byrd

October 10, 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.