Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Analemma 2013

If you photographed the sun at the same time each day - subtracting an hour as needed for Daylight Saving Time - the resulting figure-8 would be an analemma.

Deborah Byrd

December 30, 2013

Light pillars over Ontario

Light pillars form when a bright light reflects off the surfaces of millions of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds.

Deborah Byrd

December 29, 2013

Stalled rescue for icebound ship in Antarctica

Three ships had been headed toward the trapped Russian vessel. Two have now turned back, but a third is expected to reach the vessel late Sunday.

Deborah Byrd

December 28, 2013

New island in Japanese waters

As of December 24, 2013, fresh lava was still pouring from a submarine volcano, building the new island.

Deborah Byrd

December 28, 2013

Gulf Stream in infrared

The Gulf Stream is like a warm river in the ocean, but it's not uniformly warm, as this infrared satellite image shows.

Deborah Byrd

December 28, 2013

This date in science: Dawn spacecraft closer to Ceres than Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid Ceres -- to be captured by Ceres’ gravity -- in late March or the beginning of April 2015.

Deborah Byrd

December 27, 2013

Meteor meets Magellanic Clouds

Here's a cool shot of a meteor that happened to pass between the two Magellanic Clouds, our MIlky Way galaxy's satellites.

Deborah Byrd

December 27, 2013

Here is the (John) Lennon crater on Mercury

Truman Capote has a crater on Mercury now, too. So does Enrico Caruso ... and seven other artists, musicians, painters and authors.

Deborah Byrd

Eleanor Imster

December 26, 2013

When stars sneeze

If you could watch over thousands of years, you'd find that the star is having a sneezing fit. It's firing off rapid releases of super-hot, super-fast gas.

Deborah Byrd

December 26, 2013

Merry, merry!

The moon and Venus earlier this month, with a little something - or shall we say someone - extra.

Deborah Byrd

December 25, 2013

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.