Michael Slaven's Messier Marathon report for the night of 31 March-1 April, from 19:30 to 04:30. Michael also managed to view 40 of the 64 found objects with both binoculars and telescope. Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 01:22:35 -0400 From: Michael Slaven To: spider@seds.org Subject: messier marathon results I did a Messier Marathon (with friends Alexander Macia, Leah Macia, my wife Kristina Olson, my brother Chip Slaven, and son Lee Slaven age 2, as observers at various points). The session was held at a little (non) town called Cabins, West Virginia at 38 degrees, 57.68 N; 79 degrees 21.59' W. Conditions were excellent, with vm 7.5 or fainter stars easily visible at the zenith, and 7.0 stars at the edge of the horizon. (These are conservative estimates--it was astoundingly dark sky--darker than I've ever seen in the Oregon desert, Yellowstone Park, or northern Canada. Maybe the weather was just exceptional, but it seems to be a fabulous site). Instrumentation was a Celestron 8", an 80mm F/11 refractor, a 4.5" f/4 reflector, and 12 x 50 binoculars. I was the only amateur astronomer, and had only previously recorded seeing 40 Messier objects since I've kept track over the past six months. I located the objects with sky charts (no setting circles or GOTO) using my friends and family as a means of confirming my observations. I managed 64 objects, but finally stopped as late-night winds reduced the stability of the SCT with its long dew cap and eventually began to cut through me like a knife. I called it a night at 4:30, confident that many more objects would have been found had I not been so blown about. Some of the more interesting things about the session: In the early evening, I found the first difficult objects with no trouble at all. M74 and M77 popped into view within a couple of minutes of looking, thanks in part to the conveniently placed planet Mars, which I used as a guide post while waiting for full astronomical twilight. The surprising thing is that M31 proved very difficult due to an eerie skyglow that I assume was zodiacal light. While I finally nailed it, its companions were impossible to locate, as was M33, even though these were frequently-visited objects for me a few weeks ago. The Virgo cluster objects came surprisingly easily, with the chief difficulty only being verification of the object at hand (in fact this cost me an object, as I was unwilling to simply say I was sure when I wasn't). I was really happy with my first attempt at a Messier marathon ! We plan to make it a yearly event, and my goal next year is to exceed 100 if I solo again, or get all of them with help! Michael Slaven Associate professor of history California University of Pennsylvania http://web.mountain.net/~mslaven/