Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

See it! Best photos of moon and Venus

A beautiful sky just after sunset on January 21, 2015! The moon, the bright planet Venus and, for some, the planets Mercury and Mars. Yay! Venus is back.

Dramatic sunset over the Atlantic, seen near Rio

Cool air on the sea surface strongly refracted the setting sun, seen Saturday night from a small town near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cool series of images!

Ceres’ mysterious white spot seen in new Dawn image

Dawn spacecraft now closing in on dwarf planet Ceres. Image is for navigation purposes; next one due late January. And what is that white spot, anyway?

Video: Fly through the largest picture ever taken

Fly-through video of the largest image ever taken, of the Andromeda galaxy, nearest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. Prepare to feel small!

Cosmic radio burst caught in the act

Astronomers announced this week that - for the first time - they have observed a so-called 'fast radio burst' in real time.

Comet Lovejoy passed near the Pleiades last night

Ever-photogenic Comet Lovejoy at its closest to the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades, star cluster. The comet's long blue ion tail stretched back past the cluster.

Milky Way over Todd Lake Basin, Oregon

Here in the midst of our northern winter, a beautiful shot of the summer Milky Way.

Trees are poems

A lone tree on the stark slope of a granite dome in Yosemite National Park.

Two planets beyond Pluto?

New calculations by astronomers in Spain and the UK suggest that not one, but two unknown planets might exist in our solar system, beyond Pluto's orbit.

How to see Comet Lovejoy in January 2015, plus best photos!

How to see Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy - still visible through binoculars and telescopes. Finder charts and best photos!