Posts by

Deborah Byrd

This object is farther away than any seen before

Astronomers say this object is farther away and farther back in time than any seen before. It's name is UDFj-39546284. Read more here.

Deborah Byrd

January 26, 2011

3 images of Phobos from Mars Express spacecraft

Three new images of Mars' moon phobos - all taken on January 9, 2011 - are intriguing for entirely different reasons.

Deborah Byrd

January 24, 2011

Robust robots need to evolve says roboticist

To build a really tough robot, let them be babies first, says roboticist Josh Bongard, He says the most robust robots are those that change their body forms while learning to walk.

Deborah Byrd

January 21, 2011

Death Valley and its mountain shadow mystery

What's the origin of the mysterious green line in a photo, along the boundary of a mountain shadow that's racing across a Death Valley desert floor?

Deborah Byrd

January 19, 2011

Orion Nebula in beautiful new image

Igor Chekalin of Russia selected the data used for this ethereal image of the Orion Nebula, as part of the Hidden Treasures 2010 competition of the European Southern Observatory.

Deborah Byrd

January 19, 2011

Ancient Greek coin might recall Jupiter occultation

Professor Robert Weir believes an ancient Greek coin was minted to commemorate an event in which the moon blotted Jupiter from view temporarily.

Deborah Byrd

January 18, 2011

Largest known black hole could swallow our solar system

The largest of the nearby galaxies, M87, now has the largest known black hole. It contains 6.6 billion times the mass of our sun and could swallow our solar system whole.

Deborah Byrd

January 14, 2011

Super-massive black holes began growing when universe was very young

The most massive black holes began growing at a very fast rate when the universe was only about 1.2 billion years old, according to a new study by astronomers in Tel Aviv.

Deborah Byrd

January 13, 2011

See the night sky in biggest-ever image

A new image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey consists of 1.2 trillion pixels and covers a third of the night sky. It captures half a billion individual stars and galaxies.

Deborah Byrd

January 11, 2011

Hubble Space Telescope finds star formation in crazy green cloud in space

Here's the latest Hubble Space Telescope on the green cloud of gas known as Hanny’s Voorwerp. The cloud now appears to be lit up by the bright light of a nearby quasar, and shows signs of ongoing star formation.

Deborah Byrd

January 10, 2011

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.