April 25, 2008

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

A fairly bright new nova has appeared in the constellation Sagittarius, located at 18h06m.0, -27d 14' (2000.0 coordinates), slightly north of the "spout" of the "teapot." When discovered by Japanese amateur astronomers Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima on April 18 it was about magnitude 8 1/2, but according to the most recent reports it is now near magnitude 6 1/2 and thus is near naked-eye visibility.

April 13, 2008

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

When we suffered our computer system crash last September we lost the capability of obtaining astronomical images with our telescope and imaging system. Because of problems we encountered in getting the correct software loaded and operational, and also because we have been concentrating on other issues, we have not been able to obtain any images since then. We are now happy to announce that our imaging system is now up and operational again, and on the night of April 11-12 we obtained images of Comet Boattini C/2007 W1; we have posted one of these in our image gallery. We hope to be utilizing our imaging system much more extensively during the months to come.

April 6, 2008

Comet 429 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

March 29, 2008

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

The "In Our Skies" e-book available through our Earthrise Store now has columns up through the end of the first quarter of 2008. Among the columns from the past three months are: "Encounter at Mercury" (January 11), "Half-Century of American Space" (February 1), "Reflections at a Half-Century" (March 7), and "Visionary Extraordinaire" (March 28).

Two bright supernovae are currently visible in skies. Supernova 2008ax in the "Cocoon Galaxy" NGC 4490 was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search on March 3, and initially bore some resemblance to Supernova 1987A that appeared in the Large Magellanic Cloud two decades ago; it is currently slightly brighter than 14th magnitude. Supernova 2008bk in the galaxy NGC 7793 was discovered by amateur astronomer Berto Monard in Pretoria, South Africa on March 25, and was initially reported as being as bright as magnitude 12 1/2. This object is currently visible only from the southern hemisphere.

March 20, 2008

Comet 428 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

New images of Comet Hale-Bopp taken in October 2007 have now been released, as part of a recent research paper authored by three Hungarian astronomers. They have graciously allowed us to post one of these images on our Hale-Bopp images page.

We mourn the passing of science writer, science fiction author, and space visionary Arthur C. Clarke on March 19, 2008 in Sri Lanka at the age of 90. He has undoubtedly inspired several generations of us to pursue careers in science and space, and of course is responsible for the original concept of placing communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit -- an idea he first published in 1945, twelve years before the first artificial satellites were launched. We at Earthrise are privileged to have worked with Clarke in several projects, including the supplying of a telescope to the Arthur C. Clarke Institute several years ago. Earthrise founder Alan Hale specifically thanks Clarke for personally allowing permission for use of the title of one of his short story collections ("The Other Side of the Sky") as the name for the radio program he hosted between 2004 and 2006.

We wish a Happy Norouz (Persian New Year) to all of our Iranian friends and colleagues, and a Happy Easter to all those around the world who celebrate this holiday.

March 8, 2008

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. This update reflects the fact that Comet McNaught C/2006 Q1 is once again visible from the northern hemisphere.

February 27, 2008

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. This update reflects the fact that Comet McNaught C/2007 T1 is once again visible from the northern hemisphere.

February 19, 2008

There is a total eclipse of the moon coming up during mid-week; it will be visible during the evening hours on Wednesday night, February 20, as seen from North and South America, and during the morning hours on Thursday, February 21, as seen from Europe, Africa, and western Asia. Totality is moderately short, with a duration of 50 minutes.

February 16, 2008

Two near-Earth asteroids are making moderately close approaches to Earth during the next few days, both of which are near 12th magnitude, i.e., bright enough to view with moderately-sized telescopes. (4450) Pan will pass 0.041 AU (6.1 million km, or 3.8 million miles) from Earth on Tuesday, February 19; it is currently in Monoceros and is traveling rapidly southwestward towards Lepus (south of Orion) and Eridanus, and will rapidly fade from view after mid-week. (153591) 2001 SN263 will pass 0.066 AU (9.9 million km,or 6.1 million miles) from Earth on Wednesday, February 20; it is currently in Gemini, and is traveling southeastward towards Hydra and should remain visible (although fading) for another few weeks. Recent radar bounce observations obtained with the 300-meter Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico have shown that this object is actually a triple system. Ephemerides for both asteroids can be calculated via the Minor Planet Center's ephemeris service.

February 13, 2008

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. This update reflects the fact that Comet McNaught C/2005 L3 is now visible in the morning sky.

February 11, 2008

We have posted a new update to our comet update page in our "Countdown to 500 Comets" program. This update includes the apparent "asteroid" 2005 WY3, which may possibly be a weakly active comet.

February 9, 2008

Comet 427 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly. This comet has the potential of becoming dimly visible to the unaided eye in three to four months.

February 6, 2008

Comet 426 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

It has come to our attention that the Comet Observation Home Page (one of our primary reference links in "Countdown to 500 Comets") has, for the time being, become inactive. Until it has returned -- hopefully soon -- we have retained its mention on the various "Countdown" pages but have deactivated the links.

An annular solar eclipse will be taking place tomorrow, February 7, 2008. The path of annularity crosses the extreme southern Pacific Ocean and parts of Antarctica; the partial phases of the eclipse will be visible from New Zealand, southeastern Australia, and some of the South Pacific islands.

February 1, 2008

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

We congratulate Earthrise Team member Mike Begbie for his recent relocation to Hove, Brighton, U.K. Mike has also joined our list of Mentors for "Countdown to 500 Comets."

January 28, 2008

A recently-discovered near-Earth asteroid, 2007 TU24, is currently making a very close approach to Earth. The closest approach itself will occur at 2:38 A.M. MST on January 29, at a distance of 0.0037 AU (554,000 km, or 344,000 miles -- 1.4 times the moon's distance from Earth). During the next couple of nights 2007 TU24 will be traveling through the northern sky and should be as bright as 11th magnitude. Ephemerides can be calculated via the Minor Planet Center's ephemeris service.

January 19, 2008

Comet 425 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

January 17, 2008

January 15 was the Grand Opening of an Astronomy-themed Teacher Resource Center (TRC) in Socorro, New Mexico. The TRC has several telescopes and astronomy equipment along with many astronomy curriculum materials. The TRC is available to educators in Socorro and throughout the surrounding area, and any who are interested may contact Earthrise Educator Judy Stanley.

We have added images of several of the recently-added "Countdown" comets on a new page in our Comet Image Gallery, along with some new images of Comets 17P/Holmes and 8P/Tuttle.

January 15, 2008

The Earthrise Institute is pleased to announce and welcome our initial Board of Advisors. We are honored to have such distinguished individuals who are willing to be a part of the Earthrise effort and to help us bring about the Earthrise vision, and we look forward to working with them to make this happen.

Comet 424 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

The "In Our Skies" e-book available through our Earthrise Store now has columns up through the end of 2007. Among the columns from the past three months are: "Half-Century of Space" (October 5), "A Comet for the Ages" (November 2), "Finding the Next Earth" (November 23), and "Ghosts of Christmas Moons" (December 21).

January 3, 2008

We hope that all of our Earthrise participants and readers had a happy New Year's celebration for 2008. We anticipate many exciting developments during this coming year, and invite everyone to stay tuned as these take shape. We expect to be making several additional updates to this web site over the next few days.

Comet 423 has now been added to the "Countdown to 500 Comets" program, and our comet update page has been updated accordingly.

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to peak tomorrow morning, January 4. The maximum, which is usually very brief, is expected around 6:40 Universal Time (11:40 P.M. January 3 MST), which means the prime viewing locations will be in eastern North America. The peak rates could exceed 100 meteors per hour.