Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:52:59 -0800 From: Jane Houston Jones Subject: 2004 Messier marathon I was observing with Don Machholz on the first night of his two nights see images attached in Don's report. My totals are in Don's reports. Here is a recap: 2004 Marathon, March 24/25 2004: Jane Houston Jones and Morris Jones accompanied Don Machholz on his 2004 Messier Marathon in Southern California. Location, Red Cloud Road near Joshua Tree National Park Latitude 33, Long 115 elevation 1495. Jane noted her progress in Don's booklet, The Messier Marathon Observers Guide. Jane used her 12.5 f/5.75 Litebox reflector, 22 Panoptic for 83x and Morris used his 14.5-inch f/4.8 19 Panoptic for all observations. In addition to nabbing 109 Messiers each (missing only M30 while nabbing Uranus) Jane observed all nine planets. This was her closest approach to the total 110.