Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. 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. 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.

An illustration of the spiral-shaped flat disk of the Milky Way, with arcs of star streams extending above and below the galactic disk.

Theia 456 is a stretched-out stream of sibling stars

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 19 hours ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

A close look at the “stellar stream” known as Theia 456 finds it contains contains 468 stars born at the same time.

SDO spies its 1st lunar transit of 2021

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Sun | Today's Image | 2 days ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has been continuously observing the sun since its launch in 2010. From its vantage point above Earth, it sees the moon pass in front of the sun 2 to 5 times a year.

A tiny black dot at the center of a swirling disk. A jet appears to emanate from the dot, perpendicular to the disk.

A new record for the most distant quasar

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 3 days ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Astronomers have a new measurement for the distance of quasar J0313-1806, making it the new record-holder for the most distant quasar known. We’re seeing it just 670 million years after the Big Bang, or more than 13 billion light-years away.

Capture a glimpse of the Unicorn

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Tonight | 4 days ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Within a triangle of 3 bright stars – hidden in between the many bright and glittering stars visible at this time of year – you’ll find the constellation of Monoceros the Unicorn.

View from orbit of a volcano puffing out a plume of steam, ash and rock fragments.

View from space: An outburst from Popocatépetl

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Earth | Today's Image | 1 week ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Popocatépetl volcano near Mexico City has been erupting since January 2005. On January 6, Mexico’s National Center for Prevention of Disasters, which continuously monitors the volcano, warned people not to approach due to an outburst that caused falling ash and rock fragments.

When will the Age of Aquarius begin?

Posted by Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd in Human World | 1 week ago

Posted by Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd

Astronomers and astrologers may agree that the Age of Aquarius starts when the vernal equinox point moves out of constellation Pisces and into Aquarius. But when will that be? There’s no definitive answer.