Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Europe got a fabulous display of noctilucent clouds on July 3

This has been a wonderful year for seeing these electric-blue clouds that shine at night.

This bird is a superstar

Fewer than 100 pairs of Spoon-billed Sandpipers remain in the wild. Their migration is long and arduous. This is the first hand-reared bird that's returned to breed.

Earthlike planet found orbiting double stars

Located 3,000 light-years away, this frozen world probably isn’t habitable, but the method for locating it might let other habitable planets be found.

Violent origins for an Australian meteorite

It was apparently born in an asteroid collision 3.6 billion years ago.

Northern Illinois storm clouds on June 30

A farmer captured this photo of a serious storm sweeping through northern Illinois on Monday, June 30.

Happy anniversary, Cassini spacecraft

June 30 is the 10-year anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft's successful insertion into orbit around Saturn. Imaging team leader Carolyn Porco expresses the wonder.

Nature and man

One frame from a time lapse of the Milky Way, with some light pollution and fast-moving cloud cover ... and an iridium flare.

Amazing purple jelly in the deep sea

Many deep-sea creatures are red, but this one is a strange purple-blue. Oceanographers wonder what benefit there is to being purple under miles of ocean.

In 2014, Ramadan begins June 29 with crescent moon sighting

Ramadan, for observant Muslims, is a time of fasting, prayer and charitable giving.

5.2-magnitude earthquake shakes Arizona and New Mexico

The moderately strong and shallow earthquake had its epicenter near Lordsburg, New Mexico, near the Arizona and New Mexico state line.