Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Explaining the great 2011 Saturn storm

A storm on Saturn began in late 2010. Six months later, it wrapped entirely around the planet. Later, it subsided. Two planetary scientists explain.

Saturn storm of 2011: Best images

The head of a storm on Saturn is as big as Earth!

Color map suggests a once-active Ceres

Plus ... what infrared data show about the Ceres bright spots.

Favorite photos of Venus and the Pleiades!

In the coming nights, look west after sunset as brilliant Venus moves past the lovely Pleiades star cluster. Waiting for nightfall? Enjoy these photos!

See a cloud passing our Milky Way’s central black hole

Join astronomers in examining the fate of G2, which has survived its encounter with the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way.

This image shows an Einstein Ring

The ring is caused by a near-perfect alignment of two galaxies with respect to Earth. One galaxy is 'lensing' the other galaxy's light.

Auroras over US and similar latitudes

A geomagnetic storm sparked a display of auroras on the night of April 9-10. Auroras sighted as far south as Colorado! The storm may intensify later today.

20 RR Lyrae stars with companions

Previously, only one RR Lyrae star - of many thousands known - was found to orbit in a double star system. Now astronomers have upped the tally by 2000%!

Update on Dawn spacecraft at Ceres

When will we see new images of the mysterious bright spots on Ceres' surface?

Scientists report seasonal changes on sun

Migrating bands of magnetic fields on the sun produce 2-year variations in solar activity as strong as those in the more familiar 11-year solar cycle.