Posts by

Deborah Byrd

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

How and when did the first planets form in our universe?

At an estimated age of 12.8 billion years, the HIP 11952 exoplanet system is one of the oldest systems known so far.

Deborah Byrd

September 15, 2012

Research in Africa reveals new species of monkey

The owl-faced monkey with a blue bottom is new to science. It's only the second time a new monkey species has been found in Africa in the last 28 years.

Deborah Byrd

September 13, 2012

Two asteroids to sweep past Earth September 13-14

This post gives links for seeing potentially hazardous asteroid 2012 QG42 with a telescope, or watching its passage online.

Deborah Byrd

September 13, 2012

Astronomers see explosion in Jupiter’s cloudtops

It might have been a small undetected comet, perhaps similar to the fractured Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which was widely seen to strike Jupiter in 1994.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2012

Dawn spacecraft left asteroid Vesta, now headed for Ceres

Dawn is now officially on its way to its second destination, the dwarf planet Ceres. This post also contains a video portrait of Vesta, by Dawn.

Deborah Byrd

September 9, 2012

In the future, airplanes might flock like birds

Toulouse-based aircraft company Airbus sees airplanes of the future flocking along express skyways to cut time and emissions.

Deborah Byrd

September 7, 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.