A 28-year-old amateur astrophotographer, Nick Risinger, created the composite image below. It’s made of 37,000 separate photographs! It’s a 360-panoramic view of the sky, and, Risinger says, it’s the largest true-color photo of the night sky, ever. He made it by trekking 60,000 miles (100,000 km) across the western United States and South Africa starting in March 2010.
To appreciate Risinger’s image fully, click into Photopic Sky Survey, which will give you a gigantic, high-def, zoomable version.
Deborah Byrd 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. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. 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.
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