Posts by

Deborah Byrd

A Chinese perspective on autumn

In Chinese thought, autumn is with the direction west, considered to be the direction of dreams and visions.

Deborah Byrd

September 22, 2020

Satellite data helps climbers ascend Mt. Everest

Data from ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite help climbers negotiate a treacherous glacier on the route to Mt. Everest's summit.

Deborah Byrd

September 20, 2020

Cool new Hubble portrait of Jupiter’s storms

A beautiful new image of Jupiter from the Hubble Space Telescope - captured in August 2020 - shows the planet's icy moon Europa as well as several famous storms in Jupiter's atmosphere.

Deborah Byrd

September 19, 2020

Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets are melting

Several new studies released in recent weeks paint a dire picture of the ongoing melting of Earth's freshwater ice sheets and glaciers, 99% of which are found in Greenland and Antarctica.

Deborah Byrd

September 16, 2020

At the edge of the blast

A detailed view of a section of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, from NASA.

Deborah Byrd

September 11, 2020

‘Apocalyptic’ skies across U.S. West this week

Video and images of the weirdly orange skies across the U.S. West this week, created by massive wildfires that incinerated several communities in Oregon in the past 2 days and blotted out the sun in San Francisco.

Deborah Byrd

September 10, 2020

Every visible star is within Milky Way

When you look up on a starry evening, you might think you're looking across the universe. In fact, all the stars we see with the unaided eye belong to our Milky Way galaxy.

Deborah Byrd

September 10, 2020

Photos of the moon’s sweep past bright Mars

Earth will pass between Mars and the sun in October 2020, and the distance between our 2 worlds is now relatively small. And so Mars is very bright now! Thanks to all in the EarthSky Community who captured Mars near the moon this past weekend.

Deborah Byrd

September 7, 2020

Look west after sunrise for the daytime moon

We're past full moon, but the moon is still big and bright. Watch each morning in the west for a pale daytime moon floating against a blue sky.

Deborah Byrd

September 3, 2020

A breakthrough in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

The researchers called their new analytical technique "a milestone in SETI." One researcher commented: "We now know that fewer than one in 1,600 stars closer than about 330 light years host transmitters just a few times more powerful than the strongest radar we have here on Earth."

Deborah Byrd

September 2, 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.