Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Meteor shower from Comet ISON?

The chance of meteors from Comet ISON is remote, but we might see something. Info here about when to watch and what to expect to see.

Deborah Byrd

January 11, 2014

NASA rover’s tracks on Mars

Enhanced color image showing where Curiosity rover zigzagged to avoid obstacles as it made its way across the primeval red desert sands of Mars.

Deborah Byrd

January 10, 2014

Humayun’s Tomb and a monster sunspot

Abhinav Singhai combined the old and eternal - with the new and transient - when he captured this photo of Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the sunspot group AR1944.

Deborah Byrd

January 10, 2014

Gallery: First auroras of 2014

This year has been great for auroras so far! Some of the best photos here.

Deborah Byrd

January 9, 2014

Expect northern lights on January 9-10

2014 unleashed its first X-flare of 2014 on January 7. Space weather experts are calling for a good display of auroras.

Deborah Byrd

January 9, 2014

Waning crescent Venus

Venus will soon pass more or less between us and the sun, at what astronomers call inferior conjunction. That's why this inner planet is now waning in phase.

Deborah Byrd

January 9, 2014

Get ready for a crash at the Milky Way’s core

A mysterious gas cloud with three times Earth's mass is spiraling toward the supermassive black hole at the core of our Milky Way galaxy. Expect to hear about the encounter in the coming months.

Deborah Byrd

January 8, 2014

Smallest, faintest, most numerous galaxies seen yet in distant universe

Normally these remote galaxies would be too faint to see, even with the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers used a bizarre trick of nature to photograph them.

Deborah Byrd

January 8, 2014

Winter sun returns to Earth’s far north

The solstice is behind us. At high northern latitudes, sunlight is returning only briefly each day or casts an eerie twilight glow.

Deborah Byrd

January 8, 2014

Top ways to search the Internet for time travelers

Key strategy involves Internet searches for a mention of something before it actually happened.

Deborah Byrd

January 7, 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.