Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Supernova erupts in M66

M66 is a galaxy 36 million light-years away in the direction to our constellation Leo. A star exploded there 36 million years ago ... and came into view in Earth's sky this weekend.

Deborah Byrd

May 30, 2016

Life ingredients in Rosetta’s comet

It's "the first unambiguous detection of glycine at a comet" and supports the theory that the building blocks for life came to Earth from outer space.

Deborah Byrd

May 28, 2016

Is dark matter made of black holes?

What if if dark matter consisted of a population of black holes similar to those detected by LIGO last year? A new study analyzes this possibility.

Deborah Byrd

Eleanor Imster

May 28, 2016

Saturn’s south polar vortex

A monstrous vortex sits at Saturn's south pole. It's not just beautiful. It also lets astronomers peer deep into Saturn's dense atmosphere.

Deborah Byrd

Eleanor Imster

May 28, 2016

Cloud-free Africa

The European Space Agency used 7,000 satellite images - acquired from late 2015 through early 2016 - to make this mosaic of Africa.

Deborah Byrd

May 27, 2016

Spacecraft spies Saturn, Mars, Earth

Maybe you've seen Saturn and Mars close together in the sky recently? NASA's Stereo-A probe caught Saturn and Mars … with Earth in between.

Deborah Byrd

May 26, 2016

Sunrays seen from Chile

Crepuscular rays, sometimes called sunrays, above the famous volcano Licancabur on the border between Chile and Bolivia.

Deborah Byrd

May 25, 2016

Is Europa’s ocean like Earth’s?

New research finds the ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa could have the necessary balance of chemicals for life, even without active volcanoes.

Deborah Byrd

May 23, 2016

Drive a spike to star Spica in May

Once you've used the Big Dipper to find the orange star Arcturus, you can continue on to find the star Spica, brightest light in the constellation Virgo.

Deborah Byrd

May 23, 2016

Brightest Mars in 10 years

Earth passes between Mars and the sun on May 22, and the red planet shines from dusk until dawn. Our two worlds will come closest together on May 30.

Bruce McClure

Deborah Byrd

May 22, 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.