Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Moon and Mercury November 1, 2 and 3 before sunup

The moon and Mercury will appear near one another on the mornings of November 1, 2 and 3, 2021. Look in the sunrise direction, as dawn is breaking.

X-flare yesterday, aurora alert this weekend

The biggest solar flares are known as X-flares. Check out this image of an X-flare on the sun on October 28, 2021. It prompted an aurora alert.

A new field guide for hot Jupiters

A new field guide for hot Jupiters combines Hubble Space Telescope observations with theoretical models. It should inform ideas about planet formation.

True polar wander: A shift 84 million years ago

The fossil magnetism of rocks in Italy revealed true polar wander - a major shift in Earth's outer shell relative to its spin axis - 84 million years ago.

Earth in a tunnel? Decades-old mystery unfolds

A new astrophysical model connects local structures in our neighborhood of the Milky Way and depicts Earth in a tunnel in space.

Parker Solar Probe has a Venus flyby today

Parker Solar Probe will perform a close Venus flyby on October 16, 2021, to send the probe on toward its 10th close approach to the sun in November.

51 Eridani b: An exoplanet orbits its star

An amazing animation of the young, Jupiter-like exoplanet 51 Eridani b, in orbit around its star, only 96 light-years away.

Like Baily’s Beads

"Like Bailey's Beads," said Meiying Lee, who created this magnificent composite of thin, waning moons.

Pluto’s atmosphere is disappearing

Pluto's atmosphere is disappearing. The dwarf planet's atmosphere is freezing as it moves farther from the sun in its orbit and falling to the surface.

2 old open star clusters merging in the Milky Way

An astronomer in Brazil has looked toward a known open star cluster and found 2 old open star clusters, merging in our Milky Way galaxy.