Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Best photos of the Mercury-Mars conjunction

It was the closest conjunction of 2 planets in 2019, between Mercury and Mars. It happened low in the evening twilight - and was best seen from Earth's Southern Hemisphere. Check out these photos from EarthSky Community members.

Deborah Byrd

June 23, 2019

Mars Helicopter passes key tests

The Mars Helicopter will launch with Mars 2020. It'll be the first vehicle in history to attempt to establish the viability of heavier-than-air vehicular flight on another planet. Plus ... space engineers celebrate with a selfie after attaching the Mars 2020 rover's remote sensing mast.

Deborah Byrd

June 18, 2019

Asperitas clouds ahead of the rain

Kent Reinhard captured these rare asperitas clouds on June 10. They’ve been described as “… as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below.”

Deborah Byrd

June 18, 2019

Atmospheric CO2 hits record high in May 2019

NOAA reports that carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere continued its rapid rise in 2019, reaching the highest recorded levels in 61 years of observation last month.

Eleanor Imster

Deborah Byrd

June 17, 2019

Andromeda, Jupiter, Milky Way over Montana

We're now in the middle of the best time of year to see Jupiter, and it's near the starry arc of the Milky Way. Enjoy this panoramic image from John Ashley in Montana.

Deborah Byrd

June 10, 2019

ALMA spies a cool gas ring around our Milky Way’s central black hole

New observations by the ALMA telescope in Chile have revealed a never-before-seen disk of cool, interstellar gas wrapped around Sagittarius A*, the giant black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Deborah Byrd

June 9, 2019

Golden eagle and funnel cloud, over Oregon

A golden eagle flying in front of a funnel cloud over the Steens Mountain Wilderness in southeastern Oregon. Thomas Patrick Tully, who posted these photos in earIy June, wrote that the funnel "... almost touched down and stayed strong for several minutes."

Deborah Byrd

June 7, 2019

Here’s a portrait of a family of stars

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was used to create this large mosaic of stars and dust clouds in the direction of the constellation Cepheus. Here are multiple star clusters - young, middle-aged and older - born from the same dense clumps of gas and dust.

Deborah Byrd

June 6, 2019

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Joe Neeley captured the Milky Way over Meteor Crater, Arizona, on June 1, 2019, after holding a 2nd annual photography night at the crater last weekend.

Deborah Byrd

June 5, 2019

Curiosity sees noctilucent clouds shining in Mars’ sky

Late last month, the Curiosity rover picked up wonderful images of noctilucent - or "night-shining" - clouds in the Martian sky. Plus - if you're at a high latitude on Earth now - it's time to start looking for these clouds.

Deborah Byrd

June 3, 2019

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.