Posts by

Deborah Byrd

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to cut 8% of workforce this week

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory - for decades a leader in robotic exploration of the planets in our solar system - will cut 8% of its workforce this week.

Deborah Byrd

February 7, 2024

See Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky

Spot Sirius in Canis Major the Greater Dog - the brightest star as seen from Earth. Learn the science and mythology of Sirius the Dog Star.

Deborah Byrd

February 2, 2024

Catch a glimpse of Monoceros the Unicorn in the Milky Way

Inside a triangle of 3 bright stars - and hidden within the glitter of the Milky Way - you'll find the constellation of Monoceros the Unicorn.

Deborah Byrd

January 31, 2024

What makes the Harvest Moon special?

The Northern Hemisphere's Harvest Moon falls overnight September 17-18, 2024, or almost 5 days before the September equinox. It's also a supermoon!

Deborah Byrd

January 28, 2024

Would-be Peregrine lunar lander has come home

Peregrine was meant to be the 1st commercial lunar lander. Then controllers noticed a fuel leak. Yesterday, the spacecraft came home, making a fiery Earth reentry.

Dave Adalian

Deborah Byrd

Kelly Kizer Whitt

January 19, 2024

Orion the Hunter is easy to spot in January

Orion the Hunter is one of the easiest constellations to identify thanks to its Belt, the 3 medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at his waist.

Deborah Byrd

January 19, 2024

See Eridanus the River in the January sky

Can you find the long, meandering river of stars called Eridanus in your sky? Seeing Eridanus can give you a kinship with stargazers from centuries ago.

Deborah Byrd

January 17, 2024

Houses burning in Grindavík as Iceland volcano erupts

The fishing town of Grindavík in southwest Iceland is being evacuated after lava from an Iceland volcano entered the town Sunday morning, destroying homes.

Deborah Byrd

January 14, 2024

OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample container finally unstuck

After months of effort, NASA has finally removed two stubborn fasteners that prevented access to the asteroid sample from Bennu.

Kelly Kizer Whitt

Deborah Byrd

Dave Adalian

January 13, 2024

Farthest fast radio burst, in a weird place

The most distant known fast radio burst flashed from an unlikely place: a collection of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old.

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2024

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd 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. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. 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.