Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Vega and its constellation Lyra

The Summer Triangle consists of 3 bright stars in 3 different constellations. The brightest is Vega in the constellation Lyra.

Deborah Byrd

July 2, 2020

Dusty sunrises and sunsets over U.S. South

See the layers of dust set against this South Carolina sunset? That dust came from Africa's Sahara Desert. It traveled across the Atlantic Ocean this month to cause dusty skies across the U.S. South and into Texas.

Deborah Byrd

June 30, 2020

A monster quasar in the early universe

Astronomers just announced the most massive quasar yet known in the early universe. Its monster central black hole has a mass equivalent to 1.5 billion of our suns. The object has been given a Hawaiian name, Poniua'ena.

Deborah Byrd

June 26, 2020

Hummingbirds see colors we can only imagine

"Our experiments enabled us to get a sneak peek into what the world looks like to a hummingbird," one scientist said.

Deborah Byrd

June 23, 2020

June’s old moon and Venus

Here are 2 beautiful images of the very old moon - a waning crescent seen in the east shortly before sunrise - near the brightest planet, Venus.

Deborah Byrd

June 20, 2020

Forecast: Dust and sand from the Sahara

Masses of dusty air form over the Sahara Desert and move westward across the tropical North Atlantic frequently from spring to fall. A particularly large swath of dust is headed our way now. Watch for hazy skies in the Caribbean by this weekend, and possibly into the U.S. by next week.

Deborah Byrd

June 19, 2020

Celebrate solstice sunrise at Stonehenge live online

This year, solstice celebrations at Stonehenge monument are canceled due to Covid-19. But for the 1st time, you can celebrate the 1st sunrise of summer from Stonehenge online.

Deborah Byrd

Eleanor Imster

June 18, 2020

SOHO’s 4,000th comet

This week, a citizen scientist spotted a never-before-seen comet in data from the sun-observing SOHO spacecraft. It was SOHO's 4,000th comet discovery. Learn more and watch comets sweep near the sun in this video.

Deborah Byrd

June 18, 2020

Dance of 3 stars confirms Einstein’s ‘most fortunate thought’

Researchers in Europe have now confirmed the universality of free fall - which Einstein called his most fortunate thought - with extremely high precision. To do it, they spent 8 years tracking a triple star system containing a millisecond pulsar.

Deborah Byrd

June 17, 2020

ESA’s Solar Orbiter made its 1st close approach to the sun on June 15

Solar Orbiter swept as close as 50 million miles (77 million km) to our sun's surface. Now scientists are at work testing the spacecraft’s 10 science instruments, including the 6 telescopes on-board. New images, to be released in mid-July, will be the closest of the sun ever captured.

Deborah Byrd

June 15, 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.