Posts by

Deborah Byrd

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

How Earth’s magnetic field is changing

Data from a trio of satellites show rapid local changes in Earth's magnetic field. The cause is likely accelerations in the flow of liquid iron near Earth's core.

Deborah Byrd

May 16, 2016

When will 2007 OR10 get a name?

2007 OR10 is now known as the third-largest dwarf planet. It's about a third smaller than Pluto. It's the largest unnamed body in our solar system.

Deborah Byrd

May 16, 2016

Moon halo, stars, planet over Chile

Haloes around the moon happen when moonlight shines through tiny ice crystals in the upper air. Here's a moon halo, with bright stars and Jupiter nearby.

Deborah Byrd

May 16, 2016

News about mystery star KIC 8462852 aka Tabby’s Star

Alien megastructures - aka Dyson spheres - around a star 1,500 light-years away? Astronomers struggle to explain the most mysterious star in the universe.

Deborah Byrd

May 14, 2016

Old under-ice volcanoes on Mars

An oddly textured region of southern Mars is not ice-covered today. Yet landforms here - and now certain minerals - are associated with under-ice volcanoes.

Deborah Byrd

May 12, 2016

Ride along as a rocket lands

A rocketcam gives you a ringside seat on the view from space, as Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket plummets earthward for an upright landing.

Deborah Byrd

May 12, 2016

Where red Mars looks blue

Most images of Mars show colors homogenized by red dust and regolith. This infrared-red-blue color image shows Mars' bedrock ... and many colors.

Deborah Byrd

May 11, 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.