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Posts by
Deborah Byrd
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.
September 16, 2020
At the edge of the blast
A detailed view of a section of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, from NASA.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
September 2, 2020
Smoke-covered California, from space
The 2 largest fires this week both began with lightning strikes.
August 26, 2020
Ophiuchus is part of the zodiac, too
Poor Ophiuchus. Nobody ever claims him as a "birth sign," although the sun moves in front of his stars from about November 30 to December 18. Keep the big guy company. Find Ophiuchus in your sky tonight!
August 26, 2020
Magnetic rivers feed star birth
Astronomers have learned that the pull of gravity can sometimes overcome the strong magnetic fields found in great star-forming clouds in space. The resulting weakly magnetized gas flow can feed the growth of new stars.
August 24, 2020
