Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Dinosaur-killing asteroid caused India’s Deccan Traps?

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago might have mobilized an existing volcanic system, causing vast lava flows.

Deborah Byrd

May 4, 2015

Crescent comet

The co-orbit around the sun of the Rosetta spacecraft and Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko lets the spacecraft see the comet, at times, in a crescent phase.

Deborah Byrd

May 3, 2015

MESSENGER’s final image from Mercury

A last image from the MESSENGER spacecraft before crashing onto Mercury's surface on Thursday. So long, MESSENGER, and thank you.

Deborah Byrd

April 30, 2015

Mercury and the Pleiades

The elusive planet Mercury and the lovely Seven Sisters are low in the west after sunset now. Watch for them.

Deborah Byrd

April 30, 2015

Latest New Horizons images of Pluto

There may be an ice cap at Pluto's pole, as seen in the most recent images from the New Horizons spacecraft, now only 11 weeks from its historic flyby on July 14.

Deborah Byrd

April 29, 2015

Save me from light

An astrophotographer's lament, from the Muriwai hilltops in New Zealand.

Deborah Byrd

April 29, 2015

Russian cargo craft launched Tuesday, spinning out of control

Unpiloted craft carries 6,000 pounds of food, fuel, and supplies for International Space Station. Thursday's rendezvous with ISS cancelled. The cargo craft may be lost.

Deborah Byrd

April 28, 2015

Why do global temperature records differ?

NASA, NOAA, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency all publish slightly different global temperature measurements. Why?

Deborah Byrd

April 28, 2015

Dramatic sunsets from Chile’s Calbuco volcano

Unusual sunset colors caused by the eruption of Calbuco volcano, caught by Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this past weekend.

Deborah Byrd

April 28, 2015

Dancing tendrils on sun’s northeast limb

Where heliophysics meets art. Video acquired April 24 and 25, 2015.

Deborah Byrd

April 27, 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.