Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Hurricane Odile

Hurricane Odile tied Olivia (1967) as the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Baja California in the satellite era.

Deborah Byrd

September 16, 2014

Favorite photos of September 12 aurora

Two powerful storms on the sun this week resulted in beautiful displays of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, that dipped down as far as the northern U.S.

Deborah Byrd

September 13, 2014

First evidence for water-ice clouds outside our solar system

The first evidence for water-ice clouds on an object beyond our solar system. It's a brown dwarf, one of our closest neighbors, only 7 light-years away.

Deborah Byrd

September 12, 2014

Astronomers solve 20-year-old quasar mystery

New works suggests most observed quasar phenomena depend on two things: how efficiently a central black hole is being fed and the astronomer's viewing orientation.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2014

Harvest Moon trilogy

This past full moon was the Northern Hemisphere's Harvest Moon, known for appearing entirely or nearly full for several nights in a row.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2014

Home is behind, the world ahead

A mesmerizing view down a long, straight stretch of road, with a wild sky above.

Deborah Byrd

September 10, 2014

Why our Milky Way galaxy has fewer satellites than expected

European cosmologists and particle physicists come together to tweak an accepted model of how cold dark matter helps build galaxies in our universe.

Deborah Byrd

September 9, 2014

A preliminary map of different regions on Rosetta’s comet

The comet turns out to be a unique, multifaceted world. We now know comets can have cliffs, depressions, craters, boulders or even parallel grooves.

Deborah Byrd

September 9, 2014

Moonlets are born and quickly die in Saturn’s F ring

Tiny moons, no bigger than large mountains, may coalesce and collide with the densest part of the ring, creating luminous knots. But the moons don't last long.

Deborah Byrd

September 9, 2014

Campfire under Milky Way at Mount Bromo

Astrophotographer Justin Ng has just returned from Mount Bromo. Here's what a night on an active volcano in Indonesia looks like.

Deborah Byrd

September 7, 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.