Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Black holes devour stars. Do they also help stars form?

New data from the heart of dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10 suggest some black holes help create stars. They also bring light on how the first supermassive black holes formed.

Deborah Byrd

January 21, 2022

Rolling stones on Mars, seen from orbit

Rolling stones on Mars. An image from the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter shows a cliff-face on Mars. Boulders have rolled down the cliff.

Deborah Byrd

January 20, 2022

A gravitational wave background from giant black holes?

In its second data release in early January 2022, scientists with IPTA announced early glimpses of a gravitational wave background.

Deborah Byrd

January 17, 2022

Shackleton expedition to magnetic south pole

On January 16, 1909, a team of Antarctic explorers thought they'd found the magnetic south pole. The magnetic south and north poles wander every year.

Deborah Byrd

January 16, 2022

Huge Local Bubble drives formation of new stars

Our Local Bubble, a relative void in space filled with stars (but not much gas), was blown out by supernovae millions of years ago.

Deborah Byrd

January 14, 2022

Our Milky Way’s central black hole flashes unpredictably

Our Milky Way's central black hole flares unpredictably, both day to day and also over the long term. Astronomers want to know why.

Deborah Byrd

January 13, 2022

Moon and bright stars on January 12, 13 and 14

Look for the moon and bright stars on the evenings of January 12 to 14. You'll see the Pleiades and Aldebaran close by the waxing moon.

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2022

After the Boulder fire, a corona around the sun

Corona around the sun, caused by thin clouds in front of the sun, or perhaps pollen, after the devastating Marshall Fire in Boulder County, early January 2022.

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2022

Crescent moon, crescent Venus

As Venus nears its passage between the Earth and sun on January 8-9, it appears in our sky as a very thin crescent. Photos and insights here.

Deborah Byrd

January 5, 2022

Moon and 4 planets after sunset January 3 to 5

See the moon and four planets after sunset January 3 to 5, 2022. It'll be tough to spot Venus and Mercury. Jupiter and Saturn will be much easier.

John Jardine Goss

Deborah Byrd

January 2, 2022

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.