Sign Up for Our Amazing Newsletter!
A daily update by email. Science news, great photos, sky alerts.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Posts by
Deborah Byrd
Photos from 2019’s Perseid meteor shower
It's a very special group of images of this year's Perseid meteor shower, many taken in bright moonlight. Thanks to all who contributed photos!
August 14, 2019
Astronomers see a new type of pulsating star
At Palomar Observatory near San Diego, a dedicated telescope spends its nights surveying the heavens. A recent analysis of its data revealed 4 stars that change in brightness, over just minutes.
August 13, 2019
Moon halo over Magellan telescope
This sort of halo is called a 22 degree halo by skywatchers. You can see them around both the sun and moon. They're caused by ice crystals in the air. They bear that name because the radius of the ring is always approximately 22 degrees.
August 12, 2019
Two sweet Indian white-eyes
These birds live in open woodland on the Indian subcontinent. They forage in small groups, feeding on nectar and small insects.
August 11, 2019
IAU approves 2nd round of names for Pluto features
New Horizons provided close-up images of Pluto in 2015. For many on Earth today, these spacecraft images provide a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of Pluto. Read about the new Pluto feature names.
August 10, 2019
Hubble’s new portrait of Jupiter
This new Hubble Space Telescope portrait of Jupiter reveals a smaller-than-usual Great Red Spot and an intense color palette in Jupiter's swirling clouds. NASA said, "The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter’s atmosphere."
August 9, 2019
Astronomers map our local cosmic void
Our universe is a tapestry of galaxy congregations and vast voids. An international team of astronomers has now published a new study revealing more of this cosmic structure as it appears surrounding our Milky Way.
August 7, 2019
Rare reflection rainbow over Michigan
Between the usual primary and secondary rainbows, you can see a 3rd bow, caused by sunlight reflecting off the water.
August 2, 2019
Black Moon supermoon on July 31
Don't listen to people who tell you that supermoons are hype. Supermoons aren't hype; they're folklore, like Blue Moons or Black Moons or the beloved Harvest Moons.
July 31, 2019
The black hole disk that shouldn’t exist
Astronomers didn't expect to see a thin disk around the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy NGC 3147, some 130 million light-years away. They're using Einstein’s theories of relativity to understand the velocities involved, and the intensity of the black hole's pull.
July 27, 2019
