Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Rare and wonderful full-circle rainbow

In theory, any rainbow can be a full circle, but - from Earth's surface - we typically see only the top part of a rainbow.

Astronomers and citizen scientists discover a strange galaxy

J1649+2635 is one of only four galaxies known to have both spiral arms and jets of subatomic particles propelled outward from its core at nearly light speed.

How galaxies evolve in the cosmic web

Galaxies in thread-like filaments within the cosmic web have a much higher chance of actively forming stars. So galaxy evolution was accelerated in the filaments.

Glacier melt rate in West Antarctica tripled in last decade

A comprehensive, 21-year analysis reconciling four different techniques. A word about this year's sea ice extent. And why is info about Antarctica so hard to come by?

Wisdom is back!

World’s oldest known albatross - at least 63 years old - has been seen with her mate for the first time this mating season at Midway Atoll.

Days of darkness this December? Of course not.

Heard the rumor that "NASA says" Earth will experience several days of total darkness in December 2014? Not true, of course.

Super-Earth transit detected from the ground

The astronomers say their technique should let others make ground-based characterizations of dozens of super-Earths, expected to be found in space surveys.

Night-shining cloud season begins in Antarctica

Noctilucent clouds - aka night-shining clouds - are thought to be made of ice crystals that form on fine dust particles from meteors.

Bar-headed geese in India

A beautiful shot of bar-headed geese - one of the world's highest flying birds - over a wetlands in India in November 2014. Photo by Abhinav Singhai.

Using supermassive black holes to measure cosmic distances

"Eye of Sauron" is a nickname for an active supermassive black hole at the core of a distant galaxy. Researchers measured its distance at 62 million light-years.