Messier marathon

[SuburbanMak]

Good luck and nice catch on M1 from an urban spot! 
Coming up on 3 years in and I am stalled on 99, between weather and work I didn’t get my act together on the last few summer objects this year. 

Still chasing: M30, M55, M68, M69, M70, M72, M73, M74, M75, M83 and M109. 

You’ve inspired me though… 

[Cjg]

On 12/11/2023 at 18:07, Bugdozer said:

If I can remember where I printed it from I will post a link! 

A quick search brought up this site https://uol.de/f/5/inst/physik/ag/astro/Objektkatalog_Messier.pdf looks identical to your notes, I think?

[Bugdozer]

On 16/11/2023 at 16:26, Cjg said:

A quick search brought up this site https://uol.de/f/5/inst/physik/ag/astro/Objektkatalog_Messier.pdf looks identical to your notes, I think?

Yes, that's the one, well spotted. 

[Ed in UK]

On 16/11/2023 at 16:26, Cjg said:

A quick search brought up this site https://uol.de/f/5/inst/physik/ag/astro/Objektkatalog_Messier.pdf looks identical to your notes, I think?

Thanks for posting that CJG, downloaded and saved. Someting to get my teeth into and keep me engaged for a few years 😁😁 or the rest of my life.......

[NGC 1502]

Good luck with the search, usually new moon in March is recommended as the best time to try.  Many Messiers don’t need a large scope, especially if your skies are good.  M74 and M76 are often mentioned as being difficult.  However I find M76 Little Dumbbell quite easy with a UHC filter from my light polluted back yard. Not so with M74, not a sniff in spite of many tries from home with my 10”.

But once whilst on holiday in the Peak District with a 6” F4 travel scope M74 was readily seen near Eta Pisces.  The most southerly Messier M7 was easy from my club’s dark site with a 70mm TV Pronto just a few degrees above the southern horizon.

[Gfamily]

On 13/11/2023 at 17:20, Cjg said:

Good luck! I travelled to the AstroFarm in France and (from memory) saw 102 on the night, missing out on M30, M72 and M73, plus a couple in Sagittarius that were hidden by branches from the adjoining fields. I struggled to get the two in Corvus too, but was a superb night. I've since got them all by travelling to Greece. Having a list of targets certainly helps you improve your visual stargzing as some of the targets, in my experience are in the skies for a short period of time before they become too low down...M79 is only above the trees at Seething for a month or so. 

Harvard Pennington's book is a super guide if you can find a copy.

Chris

We bought next door to Astrofarm and attempted the Messier Marathon from there last spring*. Being at 46° N makes it a lot easier to see the low southern ones.  

*No great success I'm afraid - we started with some cloud, and then had a lot of dew falling out mid evening, which then tried to freeze up towards midnight. My commitment didn't survive the cold.  We'll try again as we're there again next April. 

This might be useful though - it's a Google Sheets list of the Marathon in order that can make it do-able in a single night. It should be viewable, and you can download a copy for your own use/records - Credit to Dan Machholz who originated the sequence here .

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2jp_22MnaoI4cD_hnvzZvcM8z2pLOATz35xKsvpAwE/edit?usp=sharing  

Edited November 21, 2023 by Gfamily

[Cjg]

On 21/11/2023 at 00:41, Gfamily said:

We bought next door to Astrofarm and attempted the Messier Marathon from there last spring*. Being at 46° N makes it a lot easier to see the low southern ones.  

*No great success I'm afraid - we started with some cloud, and then had a lot of dew falling out mid evening, which then tried to freeze up towards midnight. My commitment didn't survive the cold.  We'll try again as we're there again next April. 

This might be useful though - it's a Google Sheets list of the Marathon in order that can make it do-able in a single night. It should be viewable, and you can download a copy for your own use/records - Credit to Dan Machholz who originated the sequence here .

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2jp_22MnaoI4cD_hnvzZvcM8z2pLOATz35xKsvpAwE/edit?usp=sharing  

We met at the Autumn AstroCamp in Cwmdu! 😁 I had my Stowaway with me and was sharing the views with the 3 campers who had been walking earlier in the day. Nice to meet you on here too, and good luck next year with the MM...I had frost on my cases both times at the AstroFarm; past midnight it tends to get baltic! 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Cjg
Typo

[Gfamily]

Just now, Cjg said:

We met at the Autumn AstroCamp in Cwmdu! 😁 I had my Stowaway with me and was sharing the views with the 3 campers who had been walking earlier in the day. Nice to meet you on here too, and good luck next year with the MM...I had frost on my cases both times at the AstroCamp. 

Wasn't that a good evening* at the Autumn AstroCamp! Those walkers really appreciated your showing them the highlights.

* though it turned out the only really outstanding evening of the weekend, it was  still a great time. I hope you enjoyed the impromptu talk I gave the next evening. 

[IB20]

Don’t worry I’m still going for this, albeit slowly. Just picked up M41 in the 125mm. Really nice with plenty of stars on show, surprisingly so. Have about 2 weeks of the year this target is possible in my location so chuffed with this one. 😁

[IB20]

Tick off M44, M50, M48 and M67 too!