Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Black hole flares from puzzling coronas?

A black hole may flare when its corona - a mysterious source of highly energetic particles - launches away from the hole at close to 20 percent of light speed.

Deborah Byrd

October 30, 2015

Old Faithful geyser, and moon eclipse

"Over a year of planning paid off!" said Jeff Berkes Photography.

Deborah Byrd

October 30, 2015

First withdrawal from Doomsday Vault

Researchers have been adding seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault - or Doomsday Vault - since 2008. Now, for the first time, they've taken seeds out.

Deborah Byrd

October 29, 2015

Cassini flyby of Saturn moon Enceladus

Cassini has swept through the towering plume of ice, water vapor and organic molecules spewing from Saturn's moon, Enceladus. Seven key facts, here.

Deborah Byrd

October 28, 2015

New Horizons aiming toward next target

On Sunday, the craft that explored Pluto successfully executed the 2nd of 4 maneuvers designed to aim it toward a small Kuiper Belt object called 2014 MU69.

Deborah Byrd

October 27, 2015

Ice cores confirm colossal solar storms

Evidence that Earth was hit by two solar storms - 10 times larger than those observed recently - 1,000 years ago. If they occurred today, they'd have devastating effects on power supplies, satellites and communications.

Deborah Byrd

October 27, 2015

SOHO’s thousands of doomed comets

SOHO - Solar and Heliospheric Observatory - is the greatest comet-discoverer of all time. It has found 3,000 comets ... but our sun has destroyed nearly all of them.

Deborah Byrd

October 27, 2015

7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Afghanistan

Hundreds reported dead, with the death toll set to rise. The most severely affected areas are remote. As of late Monday, communications were cut off.

Deborah Byrd

October 26, 2015

Milky Way photo with 46 billion pixels

It's the largest astronomical image of all time, used by astronomers in the search for distant exoplanets and multiple star systems.

Deborah Byrd

October 25, 2015

New Hubble views of earliest galaxies

The largest sample yet of the faintest and earliest known galaxies in the universe, revealed by Hubble. Some formed just 600 million years after the Big Bang.

Deborah Byrd

October 25, 2015

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.