Posts by

Deborah Byrd

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

Mars oppositions 2010 – 2022

Here's why 2016 is an awesome year for Mars, and why 2018 will be even better.

Deborah Byrd

May 22, 2016

New Hubble image of Mars

New Hubble Space Telescope image of Mars, in honor of the planet's May 22 opposition, when our planet Earth will sweep between the Red Planet and the sun.

Deborah Byrd

May 21, 2016

New Horizons, heading out, spies 1994 JR1

New Horizons imaged this distant Kuiper Belt Object twice. It has learned its location and spin, and dispelled a theory that 1994 JR1 is a quasi-satellite of Pluto.

Deborah Byrd

May 20, 2016

Tonight … nearly a Blue Moon

The moon - nearly full on May 20 - will be sweeping past Mars and Saturn this weekend.

Bruce McClure

Deborah Byrd

May 20, 2016

Look for M13 in Hercules

M13 is a densely packed globular cluster made of about 300,000 stars, more than 25,000 light-years from Earth. It's one of our galaxies most ancient inhabitants.

Deborah Byrd

May 19, 2016

Giant impacts typical for Earth-like worlds

An advanced computer simulation suggests that newly forming Earth-like worlds are likely to suffer a giant impact, like that thought to have created our moon.

Deborah Byrd

May 18, 2016

Milky Way over the Outer Banks

Jeff Berkes captured this image earlier this month, during a night sky photography workshop.

Deborah Byrd

May 18, 2016

Small blue galaxy offers Big Bang clues

This galaxy - nicknamed 'little lion' - contains the lowest level of heavy elements ever detected in a gravitationally bound system of stars.

Deborah Byrd

May 16, 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.