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Messier Marathon
Due to an interesting coincidence, the 110 deep sky objects (nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters) in the Messier Catalog are unevenly distributed in right ascension, making it possible for observers in mid northern latitudes to see them all in a single night at the right time of year. The placement of objects, with none being located between RA 21:40 to 23:20, and only one (M52) between RA 21:40 and 00:40, is such that this time is near the spring equinox. Sometime in the 1970s several observers including Tom Hoffelder, Tom Reiland and Don Machholz independently proposed the activity of an all-night “Messier Marathon” around the new moon period near the equinox, which has since become a popular activity among amateur astronomers. Machholz has since published a book, The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon,” which provides a great deal of useful information on observing the Messier objects in general, and tips for conducting a Messier marathon in particular. A great deal of information on the Messier Marathon can also be found online at http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/marathon.html. An optimal search sequence derived from Machholz’s book can be found at http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/marathon.html#sequence.
On Friday/Saturday March 31/April 1, 2000, members of the S*T*A*R Astronomy Society conducted a messier marathon at our Coyle Field observing site in the Pine Barrens near Chatsworth, New Jersey. We had planned the activity for Saturday/Sunday, but since the weather was perfect on Friday, and the forecast for Saturday questionable, several of us decided to go with the sure thing. Steve Walters, Andy and Drew Zangle and I ended up participating. Although I had observed all of the messier objects over the years, this was to be my first marathon.
Using my homemade 8" f/6, I began by attempting to hunt down the first two objects (M77 and M74) as twilight faded. These are critical objects for completing the sequence and are difficult due to their low elevation in the twilight sky. After several attempts, I eventually conceded defeat even though I'm sure my star hopping put me right on them. Unfortunately, the remaining twilight and sky glow was just too bright to see them. In the meanwhile the next objects on the sequence (M31/32/110) were getting lower on the horizon and I feared losing these as well if I wasted any more time in a futile hunt. After turning my attention to M31, I quickly met with success, managing to pick it and M32 out without too much trouble. M110 (NGC 205) was a bit more challenging and was the last of the three to be spotted as it sunk into the murk with the rest of the group. After this it was smooth sailing on all objects up to the Coma Virgo group. By this time it was 10:45 pm.
I took a break from about 10:45 to about 11:00 before jumping into the realm of galaxies. I navigated through here in about 20 minutes and completed the rest of Machholz's list up through M80. I then took another break from about 12:45 to 01:30 before continuing on. Before I knew it, I had exhausted all the objects above the horizon and had to wait for Sagittarius to rise high enough to start up again. By 03:00 I had finished off the objects in Sagittarius and had about 12 objects to go. Andy and Steve packed it in and left about then. I picked off another 6 objects between 3 and 330 (M21, 23, 69, 70, 54 and 15). M55 and M75 in Sagittarius were still too low, as were M2, 72, 73 and 30). At that time, my weakening flashlight batteries gave out completely and the thoughts of an hour drive to my bed and a 10 am obligation on Saturday morning overcame me so I decided to pack it in too.
I probably could have gotten 5 of the last 6 objects had I stuck it out to the bitter end, but what the heck - I wanted to leave some challenge for the next year. Overall, my tally was 102 out of 110. I found all by star hopping, and used no setting circles or go-to technology. To me, finding the objects is half the fun.
The night turned out to be absolutely perfect, and the activity was a lot of fun. I highly recommend it. It was quite a kick seeing so many of the Messier objects in a single night, and was less tiring than I expected. While it was hectic finding the first few objects before they set, after getting these out of the way and gaining some altitude the pace calmed down quite a bit. Once the Coma Virgo galaxies were out of the way, things actually became quite leisurely. Had I stayed to the end, the last few objects would have also become challenging as the hunt became a compromise between altitude and twilight.
I participated in another marathon in 2001 (Friday/Saturday, March 24/25), but was unable to improve my record of 102 objects. This marathon was well attended with over a dozen club members participating. A good time was had by all, although the evening started off with an unexpected twist that put a damper on the serious observing. Our Coyle Field observing site is an unimproved airfield used by the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service, which we use with their permission. The field is also used by the Air Force Reserve, which on the evening of our 2001 marathon was using the field for practicing cargo drops from C141s. The low flyovers by the aircraft, and the lights and commotion from the recovery ground crew made it nearly impossible to observe. We did raise the curiosity of the ground crew, however, and treated them to some views through the telescopes during the quiet times. This in itself was fun. When they pulled out around 10 pm, the serious observing began, and I was able to catch up. Unfortunately, I had to leave by 4 am to get home for another Saturday morning commitment (continuing my pattern of poor planning). My final number was 96, having missed the first two and last twelve objects.
Since 2001, between the weather and my schedule, I haven’t been able to get out for another marathon. Still, after my first two, I look forward to planning one each year. In 2006, the best weekends are those of March 25 and April 1. I’m hoping for a sweep this year!
For a complete list of Messier Marathon dates, see http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/mm-dates.html