Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Best photos: November 19 launch of ORS-3

The launch took place at approximately 8:15 p.m. (EST) on November 19, from the Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia.

Hubble eXtreme Deep Field

Except for a few bright stars, every speck of light in this image is an entire galaxy.

Blue aurora, star trails, in Unity, Maine

Awesome auroral display back in July, when the familiar green, magenta and purple colors changed to blue as they spiked.

NASA’s MAVEN mission, to launch today, will seek a lost Mars

The video is an artist's concept showing the transition from an ancient, habitable Mars capable of supporting liquid water on its surface to the cold desert world of today.

Video: Two comets to fly by Mercury November 18 and 19

The MESSENGER spacecraft, now in orbit around Mercury, will take this opportunity to study the comets so close to the sun.

Bioluminescent tube worm

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego are unraveling the mechanisms behind the dazzling bioluminescent display of this tube worm.

Comet ISON in outburst

The comet will be in a conspicuous place in the sky for the next several mornings, near the bright star Spica on the sky's dome.

Comet ISON has an outburst!

"We have no idea ... what ISON will do in the next couple of weeks! We simply urge everyone who can to get out and observe it while they can."

Video: Home at the shore

A thanks to those working on the Jersey shore to restore damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This video shows the beauty that's still there.

Heavy atoms help give black hole jets their power

Jets of a black hole known as 4U1630-47 contains heavy particles, such as iron and nickel. It helps explain why black hole jets pack such a wallop.