Posts by

Deborah Byrd

Double star flips planet-forming disk into pole position

Our sun's planets orbit in a plane extending from the sun's equator. Astronomers have found a double-star system whose planet-forming disk has flipped up - perpendicular to what we'd expect - over the poles. What would nature be like on one of these worlds?

Deborah Byrd

January 17, 2019

Venus and Jupiter before sunup

The 2 brightest planets are easy to spot in the east before dawn now. Plus they're getting closer! The Venus-Jupiter conjunction will come on the morning of January 22.

Deborah Byrd

January 16, 2019

Circumzenithal arc over Michigan

Although people sometimes call them "upside-down rainbows," they're made not by rain, but by by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

Deborah Byrd

January 15, 2019

Birds and birds

Chilika Lake - on the east coast of India - is the second-largest coastal lagoon in the world. It's a large wintering ground for migratory birds.

Deborah Byrd

Swami Krishnananda

January 14, 2019

Primitive life at Barnard’s Star?

Barnard b is one of the nearest planets to our sun at only 6 light-years away. But its host star is dim. Can life find a way on such a cold planet?

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2019

Thousands of stars, including our sun, destined to turn into crystals

Astronomers now have the 1st direct evidence that white dwarf stars form crystal cores. Our sun is destined to become a crystal white dwarf in about 10 billion years.

Eleanor Imster

Deborah Byrd

January 12, 2019

Astronomers find the brightest quasar yet

It shines with a brightness equivalent to 600 trillion suns. "We don’t expect to find many quasars brighter than that in the whole observable universe," said the astronomers.

Deborah Byrd

January 10, 2019

New tool reveals ‘missing’ merging galaxies

Astronomers see many breathtaking merging galaxies, with their giant tidal streams of stars and unusual shapes. But some normal-looking galaxies might be merging, too. Now astronomers have a new tool to find out.

Deborah Byrd

January 10, 2019

Farthest, average, nearest sun

Because Earth's orbit isn't precisely circular, the size of the sun in our sky changes slightly throughout the year. This image shows that small variation in sun size.

Deborah Byrd

January 10, 2019

Young moon over Romania

Two-day-old moon - January 8, 2019 - from the frozen hills of Bacau, Romania.

Deborah Byrd

January 9, 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.