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Posts by
Deborah Byrd
Photos: Young moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars
The brightest planet Venus has now returned to the evening sky, joining Mercury. It'll surprise you by appearing so bright, low in the western twilight. The moon swept past Venus Wednesday and Mercury Thursday ... this weekend, Mars!
May 14, 2021
Arc to Arcturus, spike to Spica
Learn a phrase useful to sky watchers: Follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike (or speed on) to Spica.
May 8, 2021
SpaceX Starship prototype soars 6 miles up, then lands upright
SpaceX's test flight of Starship SN15 went off without a hitch today, May 5, 2021. Following 4 Starship prototypes that exploded upon landing after their high-altitude flight tests, the SN15 landed safely.
May 5, 2021
Venus and the owl, from California
Venus and Mercury are both in the western sky after sunset now, but both are exceedingly low in the sky, in the midst of bright twilight, and so difficult to spot. These photos captured them.
May 3, 2021
Check out this week’s asteroid impact exercise
Follow the action as asteroid scientists, space agencies and civil protection organizations participate in a drill - simulating an asteroid impact about to happen - during this week's virtual Planetary Defense Conference.
April 26, 2021
Record-breaking flare from nearby Proxima Centauri
Astronomers saw Proxima Centauri - the star nearest our sun - emit a flare, or burst of radiation, 100 times more powerful than flares from our sun. They said Proxima's flare ranks as one of the most violent seen on a solitary star anywhere in the galaxy.
April 23, 2021
Venus, in evening sky, 6 degrees from sun
Venus and Mercury are back in the evening sky. Have you seen them? Probably not; they're exceedingly close to the sun. But EarthSky Community member Helio Vital did manage to capture a photo of Venus on April 19, 2021. Way to go, Helio!
April 21, 2021
Egyptologists unearth a 3,000-year-old ‘lost golden city’
The long-sought "lost golden city" of Aten has been found near Luxor, Egypt, in the Valley of Kings. "The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures," the scientists said.
April 9, 2021
100 days of sunspots
A blend of a total of 100 images showing every sunspot that appeared on the sun from December 25, 2020, to April 3, 2021.
April 8, 2021
An image of a piece of the cosmic web
An international team of astronomers has mapped a piece of the cosmic web without using bright quasars for the first time. They did it by turning a powerful instrument to a single region of the sky for hundreds of hours.
April 5, 2021
