Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

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Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#1

Post by JayTee »


The weekend of March 18th is the weekend to use if you want to attempt a Messier Marathon!

Here are some links if you're interested.

http://messier.seds.org/xtra/marathon/marathon.html
https://10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com ... -marathon/
http://calgary.rasc.ca/darksky/messierplanner.htm
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#2

Post by messier 111 »


thx for the tip .
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Undecided if I want to do the Messier or Double Star... decisions...
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#4

Post by messier 111 »


ps, if you ever see messier 111, you are an excellent observer.
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#5

Post by helicon »


I hope it's clear on the 18th. Forecast for scattered showers which, if anything is an improvement to the weather.
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#6

Post by kt4hx »


messier 111 wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 3:45 pm ps, if you ever see messier 111, you are an excellent observer.

I have seen it! Oh wait? Ah shoot - that was Melotte 111 in Coma Berenices. Oh well! :lol:
Alan

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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#7

Post by helicon »


I saw Messier 111 - it was the Double Cluster which somehow was missed by Charles.

He did however, note Messier 73, an asterism of four stars in Aquarius. Don't know what he was thinking....
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#8

Post by kt4hx »


Messier did know of the double cluster since it was known from antiquity. There is a lot of speculation about Messier's motivations for including certain objects and not others. We will never truly know his full intent. Some say he was collecting objects that could be confused for comets (since he was first and foremost a comet hunter),. Then there are those who do believe he was indeed cataloguing deep sky objects. Anyway, his list is what it is, for its good parts and not so good parts.


In terms of something like M73, in the scopes of his day, the little knot of stars may have appeared nebulous to him because he was unable to resolve them. Even today we can see what seems like nebulosity in some clusters that is nothing more than light scatter due to our inability to resolve all the individual stars. NGC 2362 (Tau Canis Majoris cluster) is a prime example of this.


Some folks ask why he added things like M42, M44 and M45 when those also have been known since antiquity. Some opine that he added them to bring his number up to 45 for publication. Ultimately we don't know his motivation in regard to such things. We are only left to ponder certain aspects of his compiled list. I've found the best thing is not to overthink it too much, and just enjoy that he left us a good list for beginners to gain experience in deep sky observing. We all cut our observing teeth on his list and then move on to more challenging goals. But we can revisit his work any time we wish, bringing back fond memories of when we first started out, and to gauge just how far we've come as observers. With that in mind, I applaud your contributions Monsieur Messier, no matter your real motivation. :clap:
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#9

Post by pakarinen »


I doubt I could pull an all-nighter anymore, but there's often a livestream with observers in the EU and US, so you can start / end at times different from your own location or fast forward if you're watching a replay.

Add: Lowell Observatory is doing one, so I'll probably watch part of the stream and then the replay later.
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#10

Post by Makuser »


@kt4hx "I applaud your contributions Monsieur Messier, no matter your real motivation". Hi Alan and I agree with you, as the logging of the Messier Objects is a kind of "rite of passage" in amateur astronomy. And not to forget the contributions of his colleague and collaborator Pierre Méchain.
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#11

Post by messier 111 »


kt4hx wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:30 pm
messier 111 wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 3:45 pm ps, if you ever see messier 111, you are an excellent observer.

I have seen it! Oh wait? Ah shoot - that was Melotte 111 in Coma Berenices. Oh well! :lol:
I assure you that I am not Melotte 111 . :lol:
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#12

Post by messier 111 »


helicon wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:24 pm I saw Messier 111 - it was the Double Cluster which somehow was missed by Charles.

He did however, note Messier 73, an asterism of four stars in Aquarius. Don't know what he was thinking....
he did not note messier111, because he had no idea who I was. :dance:
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#13

Post by messier 111 »


kt4hx wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 3:03 pm Messier did know of the double cluster since it was known from antiquity. There is a lot of speculation about Messier's motivations for including certain objects and not others. We will never truly know his full intent. Some say he was collecting objects that could be confused for comets (since he was first and foremost a comet hunter),. Then there are those who do believe he was indeed cataloguing deep sky objects. Anyway, his list is what it is, for its good parts and not so good parts.


In terms of something like M73, in the scopes of his day, the little knot of stars may have appeared nebulous to him because he was unable to resolve them. Even today we can see what seems like nebulosity in some clusters that is nothing more than light scatter due to our inability to resolve all the individual stars. NGC 2362 (Tau Canis Majoris cluster) is a prime example of this.


Some folks ask why he added things like M42, M44 and M45 when those also have been known since antiquity. Some opine that he added them to bring his number up to 45 for publication. Ultimately we don't know his motivation in regard to such things. We are only left to ponder certain aspects of his compiled list. I've found the best thing is not to overthink it too much, and just enjoy that he left us a good list for beginners to gain experience in deep sky observing. We all cut our observing teeth on his list and then move on to more challenging goals. But we can revisit his work any time we wish, bringing back fond memories of when we first started out, and to gauge just how far we've come as observers. With that in mind, I applaud your contributions Monsieur Messier, no matter your real motivation. :clap:
I will try to find an answer to this dilemma. :popcorn:
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#14

Post by messier 111 »


pakarinen wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:10 pm I doubt I could pull an all-nighter anymore, but there's often a livestream with observers in the EU and US, so you can start / end at times different from your own location or fast forward if you're watching a replay.

Add: Lowell Observatory is doing one, so I'll probably watch part of the stream and then the replay later.
same for me , :lol: .
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#15

Post by helicon »


messier 111 wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:24 pm
helicon wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:24 pm I saw Messier 111 - it was the Double Cluster which somehow was missed by Charles.

He did however, note Messier 73, an asterism of four stars in Aquarius. Don't know what he was thinking....
he did not note messier111, because he had no idea who I was. :dance:
I was making a joke....
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#16

Post by messier 111 »


helicon wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:26 pm
messier 111 wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:24 pm
helicon wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:24 pm I saw Messier 111 - it was the Double Cluster which somehow was missed by Charles.

He did however, note Messier 73, an asterism of four stars in Aquarius. Don't know what he was thinking....
he did not note messier111, because he had no idea who I was. :dance:
I was making a joke....
same with me , sorry .
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Re: Messier Marathon -- Start Your Planning

#17

Post by pakarinen »


Emerald Hill Obsy is doing one tonight:

Let's try a first round at a Messier Marathon tonight beginning at 8pm ET. I'm a bit concerned that we will lose Saturday night's clarity. Clouds are starting to crop up in the forecast. Just click to https://www.youtube.com/@EmeraldHillsSkies and look for the live stream. [...] We probably won't be able to see quite *all* of them, but we will hope to come close - in one night.
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I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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