Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Preparing for asteroid Apophis

Astronomers are meeting today at the Planetary Defense Conference to discuss plans to observe asteroid 99942 Apophis, a relatively large asteroid that'll sweep past Earth safely - but rather closely - in 2029.

Black hole’s gravity seen tugging on nearby space

"We were gobsmacked by what we saw in this system. It was completely unexpected ... It tells us a little more about that big question: ‘How did we get here?'"

The day the asteroid might hit

For the 1st time, the European Space Agency will cover progress of a hypothetical asteroid impact scenario - this week - live via social media, from the heart of the Planetary Defense Conference in Washington, DC.

Milky Way over Taylors Lake, Australia

The Milky Way is coming back into view for another observing season. Australia has a wonderful vantage point for it!

What caused the Great Dying?

New evidence that volcanic eruptions caused the Great Dying, a mass extinction 252 million years ago that killed off 95% of life on Earth.

Moon and Jupiter beam on a lake

The moon passed Jupiter (and Saturn) this week.

Pink sky over Yosemite

Yosemite Valley in California is home to most of the park's famous waterfalls. This photographer caught the valley at dusk.

One comet, 70 thousand images

Scientists released the OSIRIS Image Viewer to make the amazing images of comet 67P - acquired by the Rosetta spacecraft - easily accessible on the internet.

Don’t miss these sunspot photos

More photos of the magnificent solitary sunspot - AR2738 - that's made its way across the sun's face over the past couple of weeks. Thanks to all in the EarthSky community who contributed photos!

See it! Photos of Venus and Mercury

Mercury and Venus came so close in the morning sky this month that they fitted into a single binocular field. But from Earth's northerly latitudes, Mercury was hard to see! Photos here.