Date: Tue, Mar 27, 2012 
From: Eric Steinberg
Subject: MM 2012

Hi-
 
AJ Crayon of Saguaro Astronomical suggested I write directly to you.  
I had intended to participate in the All Arizona MM on Saturday 3/24 
at the Hovatter airstrip.  This was to be my first Messier Marathon, 
but due to a combination of schedule issues and poor weather forecasts, 
I ended up going out to that site on Thursday 3/22.  I wasn’t sure if 
I would do the marathon, but after sunset I began to experiment with 
the MM list put out by SAC.  Things went surprising well and by 2:00 am 
when my body refused to stay vertical anymore I had attempted 
76 objects and found 75.  My report is listed below.  
 
It is my hope that I can be included in the results for 2012.
 
Thanks,
Eric Steinberg
------------------------------------------
Messier Marathon 3/22/12 at Hovatter Airstrip  
N 33 deg 34 min 50 sec;  W 113 deg 35 min 53 sec;  El: 1378 ft 
 
Observer: Eric Steinberg, Phoenix Astronomical Society
 
Equipment:  Meade 16” Lightbridge f4.5 dobsonian with JMI Motofocus.
  Eyepieces: Agena Astro 38mm wide-field, Explore Scientific (ES) 24mm 82d,
    ES 14mm 100d, ES 9mm 100d; Pentax 10x50 Binoculars.
 
Skies (observer’s estimation): Cloud cover 0%; wind calm after sunset;
  transparency ~9/10; seeing ~7-8/10.
 
Messier Objects Observed (in numerical order*):
 
M1, M3, M4, M5, M9, M10, M12, M13, M14, M19, M31, M32, M33, M34, 
M35, M36, M37, M38, M40, M41, M42, M43, M44, M45, M46, M47, M48, 
M49, M50, M51, M53, M58, M59, M60, M61, M63, M64, M65, M66, M67, 
M68, M76, M77, M78, M79, M80, M81, M82, M83, M84, M85, M86, M87, 
M88, M89, M90, M91, M92, M93, M94, M95, M96, M97, M98, M99, M100, 
M101, M102**, M104, M105, M106, M107, M108, M109, M110
 
Attempted/Unsuccessful: M74
 
* Order of observation was per SAC checklist.
**M102 as NGC5866