Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Watch for Earth’s shadow and the Belt of Venus

Look east after sunset - or west before sunrise - for Earth's shadow. It's a deep blue-grey band, curved as Earth is curved, moving opposite the sun. The Belt of Venus is the subtle pink band above the shadow.

Deborah Byrd

October 27, 2020

Photos of fiery Mars, at its best in 2020

Photos from the EarthSky community of the bright planet Mars, at its best. Earth passed between Mars and the sun - bringing the planet to a once-in-two-years opposition - on October 13, 2020.

Deborah Byrd

Claudia Crowley

October 13, 2020

Astronomers see a star ‘spaghettified’ by a black hole

Astronomers have spotted a rare blast of light from a star being ripped apart by a supermassive black hole. The phenomenon - known as a tidal disruption event - is the closest such flare recorded to date at just over 215 million light-years from Earth.

Deborah Byrd

October 13, 2020

Bright fireball widely seen over northeastern Mexico

A fireball is an especially bright meteor from space. It can start out icy and burn up entirely in our atmosphere, or rocky ... in which case a meteorite sometimes falls to Earth's surface. This bright fireball blazed over northeastern Mexico on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

Deborah Byrd

October 8, 2020

Watch for 2020’s Draconid meteor shower

The Draconid shower will likely produce its greatest number of meteors on the evening - not after midnight - of October 7, 2020. Try the night of October 8, too.

Deborah Byrd

October 7, 2020

Orange Arcturus sparkles after sunset

On October evenings, look for brilliant Arcturus in the west, flashing in colors. Follow the curve in the Big Dipper’s handle to this yellow-orange star.

Deborah Byrd

October 4, 2020

Photos of the beautiful Venus-Regulus conjunction

The brightest planet Venus has been blazing in the east before sunrise for some months. In late September and early October, the bright star Regulus - Heart of the Lion in Leo - swept past it.

Deborah Byrd

October 3, 2020

Favorite photos of 2020’s Harvest Moon

Every year at this time, people in the Northern Hemisphere witness the legendary Harvest Moon. This year, the Harvest Moon was near fiery Mars! Photos here from the EarthSky Community.

Deborah Byrd

October 2, 2020

Photos of the moon, Jupiter, Saturn in September 2020

Did you miss the moon's sweep in the last few nights past our solar system's biggest planets, Jupiter and Saturn? Here are a few photos - from the EarthSky Community - of that glorious night sky scene.

Deborah Byrd

September 27, 2020

Astronauts shelter as ISS boosted to avoid orbital debris

The International Space Station underwent an unscheduled reboost in orbit yesterday, to avoid a collision with an unknown piece of space junk. The 3-man crew was ordered to shelter, but is safe.

Deborah Byrd

September 23, 2020

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.