Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Solar storms can cause power grids to fail at lower latitudes

A solar storm caused a power failure in Quebec in 1989. Another solar flare apparently caused a power failure in New Zealand in 2001.

Deborah Byrd

September 24, 2012

Underwater crop circle mystery solved

The rippling geometric sand patterns in these underwater circles are nearly six feet in diameter and almost 80 feet below sea level.

Deborah Byrd

September 23, 2012

Video: Final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour

Millions glimpsed and photographed Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 21, as it made its final aerial spin over California.

Deborah Byrd

September 22, 2012

Bright meteor or space debris broke up over UK on September 21

The meteor sightings came around 2200 UTC (5 p.m. CDT) on September 21, 2012. The meteor was traveling east to west over U.K. skies. Many saw it!

Deborah Byrd

September 21, 2012

Video: Fire tornado!

An Alice Springs filmmaker captured it September 16, 2012 in Australian outback. Over 1 million views on YouTube now, and deservedly so. Biblical!

Deborah Byrd

September 19, 2012

View from space: Massive Greenland iceberg now drifting

Same iceberg we heard about in July 2012 - twice the size of Manhattan. Satellite observations show the main iceberg and two smaller fragments drifting.

Deborah Byrd

September 19, 2012

Overall, sea ice extent in the Arctic has been decreasing steadily throughout this past decade. In fact, the six lowest sea ice extents in the satellite record have occurred in the last six years (2007 to 2012).

Unlike 2010, when intense wildfires burned in western Russia, most of the 2012 fires have burned in remote parts of eastern and central Siberia.

Deborah Byrd

September 17, 2012

Earth in Mars’ sky

The Mars rover Spirit captured this image on March 8, 2004. It was the first image of our world taken from another planet beyond our Earth-moon system.

Deborah Byrd

September 17, 2012

NGC 7090 is edge-on spiral galaxy, actively forming stars

Because we're looking at it edge-on, we can't see this galaxy's spiral arms. But we can see the flat disk of the galaxy and its bulging mid-section.

Deborah Byrd

September 16, 2012

Astronomers find two planets orbiting stars in Beehive cluster

The planets in the Beehive are the first ever found around sun-like stars in a cluster of stars.

Deborah Byrd

September 16, 2012

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.