From: Tom Hoffelder
Subject: More Marathons

Hello Harmut, 

much to my surprise, I did two more marathons this spring!  These two 
were also completed in Tolland CT, the first on the night of 4/23-24, 
the second on 4/27-28.  On the first I used the same 8" f/6 as in 
March, and found 106 objects, the first being M45 at 20:30 (all times 
are EDT) and the last being M30 at 04:32.  The ones I missed were M74, 
77, 79 and 33.  Objects normally found in the evening that were 
instead seen in the morning were M31, 32, 110 and 76.
 
Last night the first object was again M45 (with Mercury) at 20:25 and 
the last was M34 at 04:36.  I missed the same four as above, plus M43 
and 78, which were wiped out by moonlight and haze.  I could see the 
stars involved, but not the nebula, so did not count them.  Therefore 
the total was 104 and M34 was also found in the morning instead of 
evening, along with the four mentioned above.  This time I used both 
the 8" f/6 and our C14, the latter mostly for the galaxies.  This was 
one of my most difficult marathons due to first the moon, which was 
only three days old but did not set until 23:16.  (It is amazing how 
much light that thin crescent can throw into the sky!)  Also there 
were continuous bands of high clouds moving through.  When they 
finally cleared around 2 AM, ground fog drifted in and out of the area 
until I finished.  But still I was able to get 104, and it was surely 
the warmest marathon I have run since leaving Florida, since it did 
not get below 50.
 
So, anyway, I set two personal records: 106 objects in New England and 
three marathons in one year.

Best regards,

tom hoffelder