Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Study says gravity and Higgs boson interacted to save the universe

One second after the Big Bang, the Higgs boson should have caused a Big Crunch, collapsing the universe to nothing. But gravity saved the day.

Deborah Byrd

November 22, 2014

Venus returning to evening sky!

The sky's brightest planet, Venus, has been behind the sun as viewed from our earthly vantage point. By early December, it'll be back in your evening sky!

Deborah Byrd

November 22, 2014

Snow in West Seneca, New York

Digging out of the snow in West Seneca, NY on November 19, 2014.

Deborah Byrd

November 20, 2014

Subaru Telescope detects sudden appearance of 7 galaxies in early universe

Japanese astronomers probing deeply back into our universe's early history have found 7 galaxies at a time when the universe was only 700 million years old.

Deborah Byrd

November 19, 2014

Bizarre black hole alignments over billions of light-years

The black holes are central to quasars in the early universe. Researchers say the probability that their aligned spin is the result of chance is less than 1%.

Deborah Byrd

November 19, 2014

Asteroid Vesta now has its own geologic maps

Vesta is revealed as a world in space - albeit a little world - in these new maps of its surface. Scientists say the maps of Vesta reveals its history.

Deborah Byrd

November 18, 2014

Sunspot comes back around, produces M5 flare

AR 2192 was the largest sunspot in 24 years. The sun's rotation carried it out of view, but now it's back, renamed, and is still producing solar flares.

Deborah Byrd

November 18, 2014

Study suggests 2014 ocean surface temps warmest on record

2014 is still on track to be the warmest year on record, and ocean surface temperatures appear to be rising as well.

Eleanor Imster

Deborah Byrd

November 17, 2014

Rosetta spots Philae’s bounce across the comet

Never-before-seen images of a bouncy comet landing! Shows Philae lander attempting to touch down in the weak gravity field of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Deborah Byrd

November 17, 2014

Here’s how often small asteroids enter Earth’s atmosphere!

Data indicate that small asteroids struck Earth's atmosphere - resulting in a bolide (a fireball, or bright meteor) - on 556 separate occasions in a 20-year period.

Deborah Byrd

November 17, 2014

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.