Posts by

Deborah Byrd

First notable solar flare of 2015

It was an M-class flare, and it might have produced a brief communications blackout on Monday night. But no CME - coronal mass ejection - is headed our way.

Deborah Byrd

January 13, 2015

Hurry! Mercury crater-naming contest ends January 15

Immortalize your favorite artist, composer, or writer! The competition to name five impact craters on Mercury closes on Thursday.

Deborah Byrd

January 13, 2015

Rare ice halo display in New Mexico

Ice halo display captured by Joshua Thomas in Red River, New Mexico on the morning of January 9, 2015.

Deborah Byrd

January 13, 2015

SpaceX capsule docks with International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station on January 12, bringing needed supplies to the six astronauts aboard.

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2015

Crescent moon Rhea occults crescent Saturn

Stunning image! The robotic Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. It has produced some of the most magnificent images in our solar system.

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2015

Awesome video of airplane crossing sun

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Noel Keating tried all last year to capture video of a plane crossing the sun. On January 3, 2015, he did it!

Deborah Byrd

January 11, 2015

Binary pulsar gives up secrets, then disappears

Scientists measure the space-time warp in the gravity of a binary star and find the mass of a fast-spinning pulsar -- just before the pulsar disappears.

Deborah Byrd

January 8, 2015

Record-breaking X-ray flare from Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

A flare from our galaxy's core 400 times brighter than usual, in September, 2013. Over a year later, a second large flare. Now scientists are trying to explain why.

Deborah Byrd

January 7, 2015

Awesome new project Sounds of the Night

Project Nightflight in Austria has a new web platform, presenting not just astrophotos, but also the sounds they heard while capturing them. It's wonderful.

Deborah Byrd

January 7, 2015

When is the next meteor shower?

No major meteor showers are predicted until the Lyrid shower, peaking on the morning of April 23, 2015. Between now and then ... fireball season!

Deborah Byrd

Bruce McClure

January 7, 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.