December 27, 2007

A moderately bright new nova in the constellation Vulpecula was discovered on December 25 by Japanese amateur astronomer Hiroshi Kaneda (and independently discovered a day later by fellow Japanese amateur astronomer Akihiko Tago). Nova Vulpeculae 2007 No. 2 (now known as V459 Vulpeculae) is located at 19h48m.1 +21d 15' (2000.0 coordinates), about five degrees east-northeast of the "Coathanger" open cluster Collinder 399 (and quite low in the western sky after dusk); as of the evening of December 26 it was slightly brighter than 8th magnitude.

Comet 8P/Tuttle has now brightened to near magnitude 6 1/2 as it makes its close approach to Earth next week. Meanwhile, Comet 17P/Holmes has faded some, to about 4th magnitude, but still remains relatively easy to view with the unaided eye. More detailed updates on these objects and the other currently observable comets will be included on the comet update page after the start of the new year.

December 21, 2007

Due to the current holiday season here in the U.S., we at the Earthrise Institute will be taking some down time for the rest of 2007. Unless some unusual major event occurs, this will probably be the last update until early January 2008.

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. Comet 17P/Holmes remains a fairly bright naked-eye object, and meanwhile Comet 8P/Tuttle will be passing moderately close to Earth on New Year's Day and may also reach dim naked-eye visibility around that time. While it is conceivable that an additional comet or two could be added to "Countdown" before the end of 2007, unless any such addition is a bright or unusual one we will probably not announce it or update the update page until after the start of the new year.

The brightest supernova in several years has recently appeared. This object, designated Supernova 2007sr, has appeared in the galaxy NGC 4038 (one of the "Antennae") and was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on December 18. For now the supernova is about 13th magnitude, easily detectable with moderate-sized backyard telescopes. An early CCD image of the supernova is available here.

One of our partner organizations, Astronomers Without Borders, has passed along a note from the Cassini project. The project is having a contest where people can vote on their favorite images taken by Cassini during the four years it has spent orbiting Saturn; one can go to the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) web site and cast his/her vote. Voting ends December 30, 2007, and the winning entries and contest winners will be announced the following day.

We will have a special Earthrise Radio broadcast on Monday afternoon, December 24, at 4:00 P.M. MST, which will feature a performance of the rock opera "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Listeners located in southern New Mexico can catch this broadcast live on KUPR-FM (91.7 MHz) in Alamogordo or KHII-FM (88.9 MHz) in Cloudcroft.

Time is running out to contribute to our Anousheh Ansari Matching Funds Campaign, which expires at the end of 2007. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities. Our sponsorship opportunities will continue to be offered in 2008.

We wish a Merry Christmas to those in the U.S. and elsewhere who celebrate this holiday, and we also wish a Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate this holiday. For everyone, regardless of their faith tradition, we wish a Happy New Year for 2008, and let us all work to ensure that the new year is a peaceful and productive one for the people of our planet.

December 13, 2007

Comet 422 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

We have updated our fundraising campaign page to reflect some recent contributions. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

Tonight (December 13-14) is the peak night for the annual Geminid meteor shower; up to 60 to 100 or more meteors per hour may be visible. (Some additional activity should be visible on the following night as well.) The parent "comet" of the Geminids -- the "asteroid" (3200) Phaethon -- just passed close to Earth earlier this week (and was included on our "Countdown to 500 Comets" update page when it was visible), but this will probably not have any effect on the strength of the shower (although one never knows).

December 6, 2007

Comet 421 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

We wish a Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends who celebrate this season!

December 4, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. The next few days present the best opportunities to observe the "asteroid" (3200) Phaethon -- the presumed parent object of the Geminid meteors -- which is making a close approach to Earth next week, and we cover this extensively on our update page. Comet 17P/Holmes remains an easy naked-eye object at this time, and is also covered extensively on the update page.

November 21, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. Within this update we are including the "asteroid" (3200) Phaethon -- the presumed parent object of the Geminid meteors, and thus possibly an extinct or dormant comet -- which is making a close approach to Earth shortly before mid-December. We will continue to include possible "cometary" asteroids on the update page whenever any are bright enough to be observable.

We wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the U.S. (and elsewhere) who celebrate this holiday!

November 15, 2007

Comet 420 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

Today the Space Telescope Science Institute released images of Comet 17P/Holmes that have been taken recently with the Hubble Space Telescope. We've included one of these images in our image gallery, and additional images and information are available at the official Hubble site.

Nova Puppis 2007, which has now been assigned the variable star designation V597 Puppis, appears to be fading fairly rapidly, being about 8th magnitude when observed this morning.

November 14, 2007

Earthrise Institute President Alan Hale will be speaking at the November meeting of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society that will be held at Regener Hall on the main campus of the University of New Mexico at 7:00 P.M. (MST).

Comet 419 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

A fairly bright new nova has just appeared in the constellation Puppis. It was discovered on November 14 by Portuguese amateur astronomer Alfredo Pereira, who has discovered several novae in the past. According to the early reports it is close to magnitude 6 1/2, thus flirting with naked-eye visibility. It is located at 8h16m.3 -34d 15' (2000.0 coordinates), about two degrees north-northeast of the star Tau Puppis.

November 12, 2007

Comet 418 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly. We have also added some new images and photographs of Comet 17P/Holmes to our image gallery. The comet continues to remain an easy naked-eye object, and is undergoing substantial development and evolution.

We congratulate Sergey Shurpakov of Belarus and countdown mentor Jose Carvajal of Madrid, Spain, for being new recipients of our comet observing award, given to those who successfully observe ten or more comets in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. We are still seeking a sponsor for this award.

The FCC has now posted the summary and full application form for our application for a non-commercial FM radio station license. (We have also updated our Earthrise Radio page accordingly.) Since we apparently have competitors for licenses in our area, it may take several months before we learn the status of our application.

November 4, 2007

Comets 416 and 417 have now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

November 1, 2007

Comet 415 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

October 31, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. This update includes the latest information on the bright naked-eye comet 17P/Holmes, and we have also added some recent images of this most unusual object.

We congratulate Piotr Guzik of Krosno, Poland, for being the newest recipient of our comet observing award, given to those who successfully observe ten or more comets in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. We are still seeking a sponsor for this award.

We'd like to thank all those who stopped by the Earthrise exhibit and display at the Wirefly X-Prize Cup's Education Day activities this past Friday, and we'd especially like to thank Earthrise Team member Judy Stanley along with Melanie Templet of the Rio Rancho (New Mexico) Public Schools for helping to make our exhibit a success.

We'd like to wish Happy Halloween to all those who celebrate this occasion!

October 25, 2007

Comet 414 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly. This one is a doozy! -- and is an easy naked-eye object.

All student attendees of the Wirefly X-Prize Cup's Education Day tomorrow (October 26) are welcome to stop by the Earthrise Institute's display. We will have information on "Countdown to 500 Comets" (including the just-added comet no. 414) and other Earthrise activities, as well as a Starlab portable planetarium with scheduled sky programs.

October 22, 2007

The Earthrise Institute will have an Education Day exhibit at the Wirefly X-Prize Cup at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico on Friday, October 26. (The X-Prize Cup itself will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 27 and 28.) Our exhibit will feature a Starlab portable planetarium as well as other activities and information.

In conjunction with the X-Prize Cup, Earthrise Institute President Alan Hale will be attending (although not speaking at) the International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight that will be held in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday, October 24 and 25.

The Earthrise Institute is happy to announce that, in response to a recent application window offered by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), we have submitted an application for a new non-commercial educational FM radio station. If our application is approved we will be able to use our new station as a testing ground for Earthrise Radio; we should know, hopefully, within a few months. Stay tuned!

During a "Countdown to 500 Comets" outreach program that was held in conjunction with the Rio Rancho (New Mexico) Public Schools (and underwritten by Intel Corporation) this past weekend, several students were able to obtain observations of Comet LONEOS C/2007 F1. We are pleased to welcome these students as observers on our Comet Observers page, and wish them success in obtaining the Comet Observers Award.

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

October 14, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

October 11, 2007

A new orbit has been calculated for Comet McNaught C/2007 T1 ("Countdown" comet no. 413). Unfortunately, this new orbit indicates the comet will become a significantly less interesting object than the preliminary orbit suggested, especially for the northern hemisphere. We discuss the changes in the comet's observability conditions in an update to its tally page entry, and have updated the comet update page accordingly.

October 10, 2007

The Earthrise Institute is located in the section of New Mexico that, as of October 7, 2007, switched to a new telephone area code, (575) instead of (505). We have updated our front page to reflect this change, and are in the process of updating our literature, business cards, etc. There is a one-year transition period during which the (505) area code still works, but we encourage all those wishing to contact us to use the new (575) area code.

Comet 413 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

One of our earlier "Countdown" comets, 2P/Encke (no. 402), has been in the news recently: a recent NASA press release describes observations with the STEREO spacecraft that show the comet's tail being ripped off by a passing coronal mass ejection. This is discussed briefly on an update to our tally page entry for Comet 2P/Encke, and we have included a couple of images of this event on the image gallery entry for this comet.

Another one of our "Countdown" comets, Comet LONEOS C/2007 F1 (no. 412), has the potential of being a naked-eye object visible in our evening sky during the latter part of October. The Earthrise Institute will be conducting some "Countdown"-related teacher workshops and observing sessions in conjunction with this comet's appearance (please contact us if you are in our area and would like to participate in one of these). Please keep checking our comet update page and our image gallery entry for this comet for the latest news on this comet.

We congratulate Countdown mentors Vitali Nevski of Belarus and Mike Holloway of Van Buren, Arkansas, USA, for being new recipients of our comet observing award, given to those who successfully observe ten or more comets in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. We are still seeking a sponsor for this award.

October 6, 2007

We have updated several of the "Countdown to 500 Comets" web pages, and have also added a third page to our recent comet image gallery.

The "In Our Skies" e-book available through our Earthrise Store now has columns up through the end of the third quarter of 2007. Among the columns from the past three months are: "Water, Water" (July 20), "The Music of the Spheres" (July 27), "Phoenix, Away!" (August 17), and "All Those Years Ago . . . " (September 14).

We have updated our fundraising campaign page to reflect some recent contributions. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

We congratulate the team of the Dawn mission for their successful launch on Thursday, September 27, and we wish them a successful mission and look forward to exciting results from Vesta and Ceres during the years to come.

October 5, 2007

We have added comets 411 and 412 (both picked up either just before or during the recent computer difficulties) to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

October 4, 2007

Due to a catastrophic failure of the motherboard on our main computer, we have been unable to update this site for the past three weeks. The problem has now been corrected, and we hope to upload several updates within the next few days. Stay tuned!

September 10, 2007

A partial solar eclipse takes place on Tuesday, September 11. It can be seen from the southern two-thirds of South America as well as from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and parts of Antarctica. The deepest fraction of the eclipse, 75%, will be visible from open ocean between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula.

September 4, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

August 30, 2007

There is a possibility of a moderately strong meteor shower from the constellation Auriga on Saturday morning, September 1. The predicted peak maximum time is shortly after 11:30 UT (5:30 AM MDT); the western regions of North America, and in particular the Pacific coast regions of the U.S., are favored. It is conceivable that meteors could briefly appear at a rate of 100 to 200 per hour, although on the other hand it is also conceivable that few, if any, meteors might appear.

At right is a photograph of this morning's total lunar eclipse, taken near mid-eclipse by 15-year-old student Tyler Hale. He took this photograph from the Comet Hale-Bopp discovery site, near the Earthrise dark-sky site east of Cloudcroft, New Mexico.

August 26, 2007

We have produced a 28-page informational booklet on the Earthrise Institute, that describes in paper form many of the activities discussed on this web site. The booklet also includes endorsements from several noteworthy institutions and individuals. Copies of this booklet may be obtained free by contacting the Institute.

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

We have also updated our fundraising campaign page to reflect some recent contributions. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

There is a total eclipse of the moon on this coming Tuesday, August 28. The eclipse will be visible from central and western North and South America (where it will be a morning event), Australia and eastern Asia (where it will be an evening event) and throughout the entire Pacific Ocean. The eclipse is a long one, with totality lasting for 91 minutes.

August 17, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

August 11, 2007

The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to reach its maximum on Monday morning, August 13, with rates that may reach 60 to 100 meteors per hour. While the expected peak display is predicted for approximately 10:00 UT (4:00 A.M. MDT), the shower is "broad" and extends over several days, ensuring that all longitudes have a good chance of seeing a decent shower. Also, there are predictions that some of the individual dust streams will arrive a few hours ahead of the main peak. The moon is currently at its new phase, and thus the skies are dark and favorable for this year's shower.

We congratulate Juan Jose Gonzalez of Leon, Spain, for being the first recipient of our comet observing award, given to those who successfully observe ten or more comets in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. We are still seeking a sponsor for this award.

August 9, 2007

Comet 410 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

We congratulate teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and the rest of the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour for their successful launch on August 8, and wish them a successful mission.

August 5, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

We congratulate Earthrise Team member and "Countdown to 500 Comets" mentor Judy Stanley on her recent change of employment to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico. Judy will continue to act as a mentor for "Countdown" and will also assist with other Earthrise endeavors, and we wish her the best in her new position.

Because of recent changes in the status of the LodeStar Astronomy Center, we reluctantly must remove it as an Earthrise partner organization.

We congratulate the team of the Phoenix Mars Lander mission for their successful launch on Saturday, August 4, and we look forward to exciting results from Mars when Phoenix arrives there next May.

July 24, 2007

From Earthrise Institute founder Alan Hale:

"Two years ago, I had the privilege of speaking at the annual convention of the Windstar Foundation in Colorado, where among other things I spoke about my "science diplomacy" visits to Iran and about the overall Earthrise vision; I also read my essay 'A Challenge For Humanity.' After my talk I was approached by one of the high-school students in attendance, who wanted to know what she could do to bring about a more peaceful planet for her generation.

"She and I have corresponded regularly ever since, and have shared a number of ideas on what both of us can do to bring about that peaceful planet. I am now delighted to report that she has developed her own web site, There Will Be Peace, that is specifically designed to act as a forum for the sharing of ideas related to creating a peaceful Earth."

We are honored to welcome There Will Be Peace as a partner organization for Earthrise, and we encourage everyone to visit her site, to share, and to learn. It is, after all, her generation who will inherit the world we leave them.

July 21, 2007

Comet 409 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

The most recently calculated orbit for Comet Lulin C/2007 N3, discovered earlier this month by "Countdown" mentor Quanzhi Ye (see previous entry) appears to confirm the general correctness of the originally calculated orbit, although the perihelion and Earth approach distances are slightly larger. According to this new orbit, the comet passes perihelion in mid-January 2009, and then passes 0.42 AU from Earth a month and a half later when near opposition; it could, theoretically, be a naked-eye object around that time. Let's hope for a good display!

July 18, 2007

The Earthrise Institute will be one of the exhibitors at Education Day for the Wirefly X-Prize Cup that will be held at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on October 26-28, 2007. Education Day will be held on Friday, October 26. We look forward to seeing all the students that day, and to all X-Prize Cup attendees on Saturday and Sunday!

Earthrise Institute president Alan Hale will be speaking at the 1st Annual Southwest Night Sky Conference that will be held in Taos, New Mexico on September 13-15, 2007.

We would like to extend hearty congratulations to "Countdown to 500 Comets" mentor Quanzhi Ye for his pivotal role in the discovery of Comet Lulin C/2007 N3 on July 11. According to preliminary orbit calculations Comet Lulin does not reach perihelion until January 2009, and then passes 0.4 AU from Earth the following month; this could conceivably become a naked-eye object. It will thus almost certainly be a "Countdown" comet around that time.

July 12, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

We congratulate the winners of the Edgar Wilson Award for amateur comet discoveries within the past twelve months: John Broughton, of Reedy Creek, Queensland; David Levy, of Tucson, Arizona; and Terry Lovejoy, of Thornlands, Queensland. Comet Broughton C/2006 OF2 is still inbound to perihelion (September 2008) and should be added to Countdown sometime in the future; Comet Levy P/2006 T1 was comet no. 397, and theoretically may appear in Countdown during its next return in 2012, when it makes a moderately close approach to Earth; Comet Lovejoy C/2007 E2 was comet no. 404; and Comet Lovejoy C/2007 K5 was inaccessible from the northern hemisphere.

The Dawn mission to the main-belt asteroids Vesta and Ceres, which was originally scheduled for launch on June 30 and then moved back a week, has now been postponed until September. This is primarily to ensure proper preparation for the launch of the Phoenix Mars Lander, currently scheduled for August 3. We wish successful launches and missions for both spacecraft, and expect to see exciting images and data from them.

July 4, 2007

Earthrise Institute President Alan Hale will be attending, and speaking about Earthrise, at the Remote Access Automatic Telescopes (RAAT) Conference II that will be held at The Lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico on Saturday, August 4, 2007.

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

We have also updated our fundraising campaign page to reflect some recent contributions. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

June 26, 2007

The "In Our Skies" e-book available through our Earthrise Store now has columns up through the end of the second quarter of 2007. Among the columns from the past three months are: "No Reason to Fear" (April 13), "Not Quite 'Earth 2' " (May 4), "The Right Stuff, Passing" (May 11), and "The Birds and Bees of Space" (June 8).

We are pleased to add the North American Jules Verne Society as a partner organization for Earthrise. We continue to seek scientific, space, peace-related, and other similar organizations to be partner organizations with Earthrise; any organization interested in being an Earthrise partner is invited to contact us.

We have updated the Comet Update Page in the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

June 15, 2007

Comet 408 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly. We have included an image of this comet taken with the 30-cm telescope that will be based at the Earthrise dark-sky site on our comet image gallery.

June 13, 2007

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

We have also updated our fundraising campaign page to reflect some recent contributions. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

We have discontinued our line of Comet Hale-Bopp posters that were being sold through the Earthrise Store. We still have many other items for sale in our store, and all proceeds from sales go towards Earthrise projects and the Anousheh Ansari matching funds campaign.

June 2, 2007

Earlier this week we had "first light" with the 30-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that was donated to Earthrise last year by Meade Instruments. The images we took (in bright moonlight!) of Comet Lemmon C/2006 WD4 are posted on our comets image gallery. Within the not-too-distant future we hope to have this telescope mounted at the Earthrise dark-sky site and accessible for remote-control observations.

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. This update includes the recently-discovered Comet Lovejoy C/2007 K5 which, unfortunately, will remain unobservable from the northern hemisphere and thus won't be added to the "Countdown" tally. A description of this comet is included as an "update" to Countdown comet no. 404.

On our main page we now have a logo from (and link to) the Intel Corporation, in grateful recognition of the grant they have recently awarded us.

The brightest "main belt" asteroid, (4) Vesta, is now near opposition and is about as bright as it can ever get, magnitude 5 1/2 (i.e., dimly visible to the unaided eye). It can be found a few degrees north-northeast of the "head" of Scorpius, and also a few degrees northwest of Jupiter; ephemerides can be computed via the Minor Planet Center's ephemeris service. Vesta is the first planned destination for the Dawn spacecraft, currently scheduled for launch on June 30, 2007.

In order to keep this "What's New?" page from becoming too long and unwieldy, we will normally restrict it to updates that have been posted within the preceding three months. Older updates will now be maintained in a series of "archive" pages.

We are saddened to note the passing away of the father of Earthrise team member Wynne Lienhardt during this past week. Wynne has been both a strong financial supporter and a strong moral supporter of Earthrise for several years, and we extend our condolences to her and her family during this sad time.

May 24, 2007

Comet 407 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program and we have accordingly posted a new update to our comet update page; we have also added a second page to our recent comet image gallery.

May 15, 2007

We are delighted and honored to be the recipient of a recent grant from the Intel Corporation, through their center in Rio Rancho, NM. This grant, along with other recent contributions, is now reflected on our fundraising campaign page. (Note that we are now over a quarter of the way towards matching Anousheh Ansari's matching fund challenge.) We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

Comet 406 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

May 10, 2007

We are delighted and honored to be the recipient of a recent grant from the McCune Charitable Foundation in Santa Fe, NM. This grant, along with other recent contributions, is now reflected on our fundraising campaign page. (We have also updated our contributors' page accordingly.) We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

We have started a collaboration with the organization Giveline, whereby a portion of the sales of items purchased through Giveline is donated to Earthrise. Please consider using Giveline for your shopping needs, and supporting Earthrise at the same time; just click on the Giveline logo on our main page.

The Earthrise Institute is an Affiliate Organization for the 2007 International Space Development Conference (ISDC) that will be held in Dallas, Texas from May 24-28, and we now have a banner and link on our main page. Earthrise Institute President Alan Hale is speaking at the ISDC, and also at the North American Jules Verne Society conference that will be held in Albuquerque, NM on June 7-10.

We have updated the Comet Update Page in the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program.

May 1, 2007

Within our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program we have updated our statistical analysis page to reflect the quasi-finish of the first 400 comets, and we have also posted a new update to our Comet Update Page. In addition, throughout the various "Countdown"-related pages we have modified our links to the Center for Astrophysics to accomodate a change in their web address format that they have recently instituted.

April 26, 2007

We have received a written letter of commitment from Anousheh Ansari for our fundraising campaign. As always, we welcome your contributions to this campaign, and we invite you to check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

We have updated our comet observer's page with several new successful observers. We fully expect that this will be an ongoing process.

The first-known asteroid to cross Earth's orbit, (1862) Apollo (originally discovered in 1932) is currently making a close approach to Earth; minimum distance is 0.071 AU (6.6 million miles, or 10.7 million km) on May 8. It is currently visible in the morning sky at 14th magnitude, brightening to 13th magnitude shortly before closest approach, after which it begins a rapid fading. Bright moonlight and the rich Milky Way star fields of Scorpius and Sagittarius through which it is currently traveling may make observations difficult. Observers located in the southern hemisphere are favored. Ephemerides can be computed via the Minor Planet Center's ephemeris service.

April 20, 2007

New update to the Comet Update Page in the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. Also, we have added some new images of the recent comets to our image gallery, including some that were taken with the Earthrise equipment.

April 15, 2007

Comet 405 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page and our comet image gallery have both been updated accordingly.

April 10, 2007

Comet 404 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly, along with some of the earlier entries on our comet tally page.

We have also updated Alan Hale's bio page with some new and updated links.

April 5, 2007

Our name change to the Earthrise Institute has now been formally approved by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. All contributions to Earthrise made via check should now be made payable to "Earthrise Institute."

We are pleased to welcome Kedar Badu, Hal Chambless, Maria Rosa Doti-Escalante, and Judy Stanley to the Earthrise Team. In addition to these individuals we have updated our Team page with links, where appropriate.

Speaking of the Earthrise Team, we note and commend Team member Mike Simmons of Astronomers Without Borders for his essay, "Build Bridges Through the Sky" that appears on page 102 of the May 2007 issue of Sky & Telescope. (Unfortunately, the essay is not available on-line.) The thoughts expressed by Mike in his essay are the same as those which inspired the creation of the Earthrise mission.

The Earthrise Institute will have an exhibit at the Cosmic Carnival in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday, April 21 and at the Earth Day Fair in Alamogordo, New Mexico on Saturday, April 28.

We have updated our fundraising campaign page to reflect some recent contributions. We continue to welcome your contributions, and please check out our donations page and our sponsorship opportunities.

March 30, 2007

We have a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and are now featuring images of some of the recent comets taken by our colleagues in our image gallery. We have also added some new images to our image gallery of comets 1-400, and we will probably continue to do this on an occasional basis.

We now have our first observers listed on our "Comet Observers" page, and have added additional names to our Mentors page.

We are pleased to add the LodeStar Astronomy Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico as a partner organization for Earthrise.

The "In Our Skies" e-book available through our Earthrise Store now has columns up through the end of the first quarter of 2007. Among the columns from the past three months are: "The Daylight Comet of 2007" (January 19), "Military Space" (February 2), "Second Moon?" (March 23), and "Elevator Ride to the Stars?" (March 30).

March 19, 2007

We have updated our comet update page with information about the newly-discovered Comet Lovejoy C/2007 E2, presently only visible from the southern hemisphere but which we hope to add to "Countdown to 500 Comets" by sometime in early April.

We wish a Happy Norouz (Persian New Year) to all of our Iranian friends and colleagues!

March 17, 2007

Comet 403 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly. We have also added a few links to some of the earlier entries on our comet tally page; this will be an ongoing process.

A fairly bright new nova has just appeared in the constellation Cygnus. This object was discovered on March 15, 2007 by Japanese amateur astronomer Akihiko Tago (one of the discoverers of Comet Tago-Sato-Kosaka 1969g, Alan Hale's first comet), and was 8th magnitude this morning (apparently fading from 7th magnitude the previous day). It is located at 20h28m.2 +41d 49' (2000.0 coordinates), about two degrees northeast of the star Gamma Cygni (and between that star and Deneb).

March 16, 2007

Comets 401 and 402 have now been picked up for the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. With these new additions we how have added the first comet tally page, and a new image gallery specifically devoted to comets 401-500. Our comet update page has also been updated accordingly.

A partial solar eclipse takes place on Monday, March 19. It can be seen from almost all of eastern and central Asia, as well as from northern and western Alaska. The deepest fraction of the eclipse, 87%, will be visible from west-central Russia.

March 12, 2007

One of our partner organizations, Astronomers Without Borders, now has a working web link, and we are now linking to it from our partners page.

We continue to seek scientific, space, peace-related, and other similar organizations to be partner organizations with Earthrise. Any organization interested in being an Earthrise partner is invited to contact us.

March 3, 2007

We have added several names to our list of astronomers who are assisting with the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. One of these individuals is Doug Snyder, who discovered a comet in 2002 (one of those observed by Alan Hale), and we have added an image of this comet to our image gallery. We are continuing to solicit colleagues who can assist with this project, and we expect to add more names within the near future.

There is a total eclipse of the moon tonight (evening of March 3 western hemisphere, morning of March 4 eastern hemisphere). The eclipse in its entirety is visible from all of Europe and Africa, along with western Asia; the Americas will see the ending stages after sunset, while Australia and eastern Asia will see the beginning stages before sunrise. Totality begins at 22:44 Universal Time (March 3) and ends at 23:58 UT.

March 1, 2007

Today we are formally inaugurating our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. We have revised the already existing pages that describe this program, and have added several others, including: an essay, "The View from 400" by Earthrise founder Alan Hale; a statistical analysis of the first 400 comets; and an initial list of astronomers around the world who have agreed to act as assistants and mentors for the project. (We are continuing to solicit people and organizations for this list and will be updating it on a continuing basis.) We have also issued a press release announcing the program.

We are continuing to seek a donor to sponsor and name the comet observing awards that will be given to successful participants of the project.

February 28, 2007

We have now added a page to the web site listing and linking to Press Releases that are issued by the Institute. For right now all we list are archived releases issued under the Southwest Institute for Space Research (the Earthrise Institute's predecessor organization), but we expect to begin issuing additional press releases within the near future.

At right is a photograph of Nova Scorpii 2007 (actually, Nova Scorpii 2007 No. 1, to distinguish it from another nova that has just been discovered) taken on February 17. Jupiter is the very bright object at left center, and the star Antares is to Jupiter's right and is above the nova. The nova was 4th magnitude (near its peak) when this photo was taken, but has already begun fading, being 5th magnitude by February 21.

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