THE MESSIER MARATHON
What
is a Messier Marathon? The month of March is a time when all 110 Messier objects
can be observed in a single night. This
is an incredibly difficult but equally fun observing feat to do!
The idea is to practice your star hopping and observing abilities. At our
latitude, all of the objects except M30 are possible.
My personal best is 106 objects at Crockett. The rules are to find all
110 objects in a single night without using computer goto or digital setting
circles. Using sky charts, and
manual setting circles are allowed. Additional
links about the Marathon are:
http://www.richardbell.net/marathon.html
http://seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/marathon.html
Cannot
make the official date of the marathon? NO PROBLEM.
You can attempt the marathon at your leisure from any site at any time!
I
use star charts and a Messier list to help me find the Messier objects, and
listed below are links and descriptions of star charts available from the NOVAC
web site http://www.novac.com/messier/messier_marathoners.php.
All of the star charts are in PDF format (ACROBAT).
There are 5 star charts for March 21-28 with all 110 Messier objects, 3
different versions of the Virgo Cluster chart depending on your telescope
orientation, a Sagittarius star chart, a Messier list of all 110 objects in the
order they should be observed, and a list of information on each Messier object
(messier-objects.pdf). Another
description of Messier Marathon strategy can be found in the the-marathon.pdf
file.
When
I do the marathon I find the objects in the order shown on the marathon-list-worksheet.pdf
list. The list is based
on how quickly each Messier object will set behind the horizon after sun set.
Thus, the objects at the top of the list are low in the western sky about to
set. M77 and M74 are at the top of
the list to find first. Not only are
both objects low in the western sky, they are also very faint thus it can take a
long time to find them. Once you observe the Messier object on the marathon
list, all you have to do is check off the object.
The “Notes” section on the list is optional. In
addition, there is another worksheet with images of each object in search
sequence order ( search-sequence.pdf )
Virgo
Cluster star charts
The
Messier objects in the Virgo Cluster are faint, small, and relatively close
together. In addition, there are
other faint galaxies visible that not listed in the Messier catalog that can be
confused with the Messier objects. I use a chart of the Messier objects in the
Virgo cluster. It is very effective; I have found all of the objects in about 15
minutes. Because finder scopes have
different projections depending on their configuration, I have provided three
versions of the chart each with a different projection. "Virgo.pdf" is for finders with
a correct view, "virgo-reverse-horizontal.pdf"
is for finder scopes with a reverse view, and "virgo-reverse-horizontal-vertical.pdf"
is for finder scopes with a reverse and upside down view. Listed below are links
to charts of the Virgo Cluster that can be downloaded.
The charts display stars to 9th magnitude, which is the limit of my 7X
50mm finder scope. I locate each
object using the chart and finder, however, if you have a wide field telescope
with a 3-5 degree field of view the chart should prove useful.
Where
to start in the Virgo Cluster? If
you look at virgo.pdf there are 4 stars that form an upside-down “Y” below
M59 and M60 that points to the area between M58 and M59.
It is a very distinctive pattern that I look for to start my tour of the
Virgo Cluster. Once I find it I can
use the finder scope and chart to star hop from one Virgo Galaxy to the next.
You do not have to see the galaxies in the finder scope, just star hop to
the next location using the chart then look through the eyepiece and enjoy the
sight of a Virgo Cluster galaxy!
http://www.novac.com/messier/virgo-reverse-horizontal-vertical.pdf
http://www.novac.com/messier/virgo-reverse-horizontal.pdf
http://www.novac.com/messier/virgo.pdf
Sagittarius
Star Chart
There
are a lot of Messier objects in Sagittarius.
This is a star chart of just Sagittarius and adjacent constellations,
Messier objects, and stars to 5th magnitude.
http://www.novac.com/messier/Sagittarius.pdf
Messier
star charts
Below
are the star charts with the Messier objects for March 13-20
http://www.novac.com/messier/messier-sky-chart-7-pm.pdf
http://www.novac.com/messier/messier-sky-chart-10-pm.pdf
http://www.novac.com/messier/messier-sky-chart-1-am.pdf
http://www.novac.com/messier-sky-chart-4-am.pdf
http://www.novac.com/messier-sky-chart-630-am.pdf
Marathon
observing list
In
observing order is the list of Messier objects.
I simply check off each object as I observe it.
http://www.novac.com/messier/marathon-list-worksheet.pdf
List
of Messier objects with name, position, magnitude, size, type, and constellation