Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Fav photos of August 31 moon, Saturn and Mars

Did you see the moon near the planets Saturn and Mars Sunday evening? Thanks to all EarthSky friends who captured and shared these beautiful images.

Deborah Byrd

September 1, 2014

What is the blue hour?

The blue hour - when the sun is some distance below the horizon, when the sky is deep blue and the landscape is suffused with bluish light - is a good time to take photos.

Deborah Byrd

August 30, 2014

NROA astronomers pin down distance to Pleiades stars

National Radio Astronomy Observatory astronomers used a tried-and-true method - stellar parallax - to resolve a controversy over the Pleiades' distance.

Deborah Byrd

August 28, 2014

Yellowstone supervolcano would cover North America in ash

It's highly unlikely a supervolcano will erupt at Yellowstone National Park. But, says a new study, if one did, volcanic ash would cover North America.

Deborah Byrd

August 27, 2014

Milky Way over Utah, and a moonlit blue hour

A crescent moon - just set below high, hardened sand dunes in Goblin Valley State Park in Utah - creates a kind of "blue hour" glow in the sky.

Deborah Byrd

August 26, 2014

Moon, Jupiter, Venus over Hong Kong

It was a glorious weekend for planet-watching. The moon waned and appeared lower in the east before dawn each day, sweeping past Venus and Jupiter.

Deborah Byrd

August 24, 2014

Strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks San Francisco Bay area

Strong earthquake struck San Francisco Bay area early on August 24, 2014. Power outages, moderate damage across region, closed highways, serious injuries, no deaths.

Deborah Byrd

August 24, 2014

New Voyager map reveals Neptune’s strange moon Triton

New map from a 1989 spacecraft flyby gives us a glimpse of an unseen world.

Deborah Byrd

August 22, 2014

August 19 aurora from space and Earth

One of the first auroras of the 2014 autumn season appeared last night at northerly latitudes. Astronaut Reid Wiseman caught it from space. Photographer Göran Strand caught it from Sweden.

Deborah Byrd

August 20, 2014

Curiosity rover is having wheel problems

Mission planners didn't anticipate that Curiosity would be driving over an area on Mars that has sharp, pyramid-shaped rocks embedded in hard ground.

Deborah Byrd

August 19, 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.