Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Polar stratospheric clouds over Sweden

Northern Europe had an amazing display of these clouds this week.

Photos of December 26 ‘ring of fire’ eclipse

The December 26, 2019, annular or 'ring of fire' solar eclipse was viewed across a narrow track that started at sunrise in Saudi Arabia and ended at sunset over the North Pacific Ocean.

Betelgeuse is ‘fainting’ but (probably) not about to explode

The well-known bright star Betelgeuse - a red giant star, famous for its name and for the fact that it'll explode someday - has become noticeably dimmer since late October. Here's what astronomers think is happening.

Don’t miss these cyclones on Jupiter, and more

The Juno spacecraft's last perijove - or closest point to Jupiter - resulted in a treasure trove of images. Its next perijove is coming up on December 26. Get updated here, and view Juno's latest amazing images.

Hefty black hole holds new record for high mass

Astronomers have discovered a black hole with 40 billion solar masses in the heart of the Abell 85 cluster of galaxies.

Interstellar object closest to the sun today

The fascinating object 2I/Borisov has been steadily brightening as it nears its encounter with our sun. It'll pass closest to the sun on December 8, 2019, then flee again toward interstellar space.

Astronomers catch a comet outburst

Remember comet 46P/Wirtanen? It was a bright comet about this time last year. Around the time it swept near the Earth and sun, the comet entered the field of view NASA’s TESS planet-hunter. And boom! It underwent an outburst, caught by TESS.

Parker Solar Probe sheds light on our local star

Parker Solar Probe - now in its 4th orbit around the sun - can endure heat and radiation like no previous mission. This week, 4 new studies in Nature reveal new insights about the sun's mysterious corona and solar wind.

Chennai engineer helped find India’s Vikram lander, which crashed on the moon

In September, India hoped to become the 4th nation to soft land on the moon successfully with its Chandrayaan 2 mission. Moments before touchdown, the mission's Vikram lander crashed. Now the lander has been found again.

What to look for on a 1st quarter moon

For those of you with telescopes, or telescopic lenses, here's something to watch for on a moon just past 1st quarter.