Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

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.

Thunderstorms spawn elusive sprites

Sometimes called red sprites or lightning sprites, they are offshoots of large-scale electrical discharges that take place above thunderstorms.

This morning’s moon near Venus

We received many beautiful photos of the June 23 and 24 moon near the planet Venus.

7.9-magnitude earthquake strikes near Alaska

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a local tsunami warning after a powerful earthquake struck on June 23 in the Aleutian Islands.

Video: Night-shining clouds in motion

Noctilucent or night-shining clouds can look like a stormy sea, with wave after wave rolling in.

Watching the solstice sunrise

On the day of the June solstice, the sun rises and sets farthest north for the year.

Rosetta spacecraft sees target comet wake up, then go quiet again

An April 2014 image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko showed activity, as the comet nears the sun. But a June 4 image shows the comet has quieted again.