[meteorite-list] Hale-Bopp Anniversary is Saturday

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jul 22 13:02:43 2005
Message-ID: <200507221644.j6MGi7G02037_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.alamogordonews.com/artman/publish/article_8624.shtml

Hale-Bopp anniversary is Saturday
Michael Shinabery
Alamodordo Daily News (New Mexico)
July 22, 2005

Earthrise rises to the occasion on Saturday.
Alan Hale's dream to create Earthrise, a youth astronomical retreat in
the Sacramento Mountains, will be officially launched at a Saturday
night semi-formal dinner.

For Hale, semi-formal is exchanging his trademark shorts for long pants,
he pointed out
Already Hale has acquired the land adjacent to his home, has been
raising funds to pay it off and even acquired a grant.

When the retreat is completed in a few years inner city youth will be
able to view the heavens. More serious students can do research.
Eventually, computers will link young astronomers worldwide with the
vision to erase cultural barriers among youth.

Earthrise, which will operate under the Southwest Institute for Space
Research (of which Hale is director), is named from a famous photograph
Apollo astronauts took of the Earth rising over the Moon.

Hale's announcement at the Saturday night dinner will culminate a
day-long commemoration of Comet Hale-Bopp's discovery. He spotted the
celestial object on July 23, 1995, while peering at the skies early one
morning. (See Hale's "In Our Skies" column on Page 9A.)

Minutes late, in Arizona, Thomas Bopp viewed it. Hale's advantage was he
only had to walk over to his home and report the sighting to an
astronomical clearinghouse. Bopp was in the desert with a distance to drive.

By spring 1997 Hale-Bopp was one of the dark sky's brightest beacons. It
will not return for 2,300-2,400 years.

Saturday's events at the Tays Center begin with what Hale termed
"kids-oriented activities" in the morning, using The New Mexico Museum
of Space History's Star Lab.

Presentations and talks will take place in the afternoon until 4 p.m.

>From 4-6 p.m., in the Tays Center lobby, Hale will broadcast his weekly
KUPR 91.7 FM radio program, "The Other Side of the Sky." His play list
includes such song titles as "Hale Bopp Intercourse," "Hale Bopp
Regurgitations," and "Do the Hale-Bopp."

"That object generated a lot of interesting music and I've collected as
much of it as I can find," he said.
Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Gov. Bill Richardson declared
July 22-23 "Hale-Bopp Days in New Mexico." They commended Hale for
"developing" Earthrise "to utilize astronomy as a tool to bring the
people of our planet together."

One special guest, Gene Roddenberry, Jr., son of the late "Star Trek"
creator, has planned to attend. His appearance may be canceled, however,
because of the death last week of James Doohan, who played engineer
Scotty on the original 1960s series.

Day-long general admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children. Saturday
night's dinner is $20.
Received on Fri 22 Jul 2005 12:44:03 PM PDT