Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 10:14:11 -0600 (CST) From: Shawn Clark Subject: Re: Messier Marathon results requested On 22 Mar 1996, Hartmut Frommert wrote: > Please send me your results of your 1996 Messier marathons Hi-- I attempted the Marathon on the night of 3/19-3/20/96. I got a late start because it appeared that the weather was not going to be any good--until about 6PM when the forecast changed and the clouds cleared. I reached the site and was set up by 7:30PM. Location was a few miles southeast of Longview, Texas. Conditions looked dicey (potential for 20 mph winds & high level clouds), but turned out to be very good. Toughest part of the evening was the first 45 minutes. Gusty winds complicated my efforts in the early evening. The early evening galaxies were very difficult for me due to late start, winds, glow from town and receding daylight in this section of sky. Also, I did not have a good version of the observing order, so I started looking for M74 too late. The list I downloaded differs substantially from the one currently given. Still, I only missed M74 early on. The problem was that I could not locate my guide star because everything was too low on the horizon and lost in the glow. I have only been observing since October of last year. This was my first Marathon although I had already viewed 90% of the Messiers before. My main observing tools were a Celestar 8" SCT w/Tuthill 8X50 RA finder & Telrad, and a pair of 10X50 Bushnell binoculars. From my vantage point the Marathon would have been very difficult without an equatorial mount. I used the declination settings to find my guide stars during some searches in the morning and in the evening. Conditions were pretty good throughout the evening. Wind subsided some by Midnight. Temps only fell to about 33 F. Limiting magnitude was at least 6 at zenith. No clouds or haze after 9PM. The air was not entirely steady, but it was good for this area (supported about 150X tolerably, at times it was much sharper). The views of Hyukatake were excellent. I kept breaking away to watch it whenever I could spare the time. The tail was at least 7 degrees long in binoculars and several divisions were apparent. I moved a few hundred yards at 9:30PM to obtain a less obstructed eastern horizon. However, the pines to the southeast turned out to be my undoing for M30. I realized too late that the tallest/broadest of these trees was going to block M30 until the Sun rose, otherwise I think it would have been tough, but see-able. The other morning objects were relatively easy. M30 is now the only Messier which I have not ever found--I had never looked for it before this. I ended the session with moderately good views of Jupiter. Final talley: 108 out of 110. Lessons for next time: 1. Find a location with an even clearer horizon and with clearer March weather! 2. Start working on M74 earlier. Shawn Clark