Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

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EmeraldHillsSkies United States of America
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Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

#1

Post by EmeraldHillsSkies »


Hello TSS colleagues. I've now participated in 4 different Messier Marathons. Nothing has quite compared with the excitement of the first experience, March 20-21, 2021, starting at 5pm ET on the 20th and running through 8 am ET on the 21st. There were eight team members: Roel Boudry, Robert Chandler, Jeffrey Horn, Sanjeev Joshi, Doug Lucas, Frank Rossetti, Gary Shaw, and Phil Wolski. We kept a spreadsheet of our progress and worked together as a team throughout the night. Here's our report (attached).
EAA_Messier_Marathon-2021-worksheet.pdf
(115.85 KiB) Downloaded 16 times
Here are a couple of our images, grabbed EAA-style:
M27-2021-03-21-MM.jpg
M62-2021-0921-MM.jpg
M62-2021-0921-MM.jpg (16.05 KiB) Viewed 352 times

We also captured the entire experience as a video (live stream). Here's an edited 30-minute version of the 14-hours of raw footage:

https://youtu.be/xRoRTQdMXVI?si=pMkgiKomOCbYNxr2

We repeated our efforts in 2022, by the way, and again, just *barely* captured all 110 objects.
Last year (2023), I tackled the marathon from my new observatory location with a friend and - from the site of the observatory, we aren't able to capture M30 in the Marathon format. We knew this in advance but accepted it as an unfortunate side effect of an otherwise great location. But we *WERE* able to capture 109 objects through just my RASA 11 in the observatory.

This year (2024), in my first attempt, we managed 60 objects before a pea-soup-thick fog rolled in and covered the entire night sky. I'm hoping to try again on the next clear available night.

So the best report would be the first one, for multiple reasons. : )
EAA Observing from the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Telescope: Celestron RASA 11 - Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Software: AstroPlanner (with occasional help from SkyTools 4 Pro), Stellarium, SharpCap and Nina (the latter purely for autofocusing).
YouTube 'EmeraldHillsSkies' https://www.youtube.com/@EmeraldHillsSkies
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Graeme1858 Great Britain
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Re: Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

#2

Post by Graeme1858 »


That's a great record Doug. And a great inspiration to the rest of us.

Profile Flair bling has been awarded for the EmeraldHillsSkies team effort. Congratulations.

Regards

Graeme
______________________________________________
Celestron 9.25 f10 SCT, f6.3FR, CGX mount.
ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
ZWO EFW, ZWO OAG, ASI220MM Mini.
APM 11x70 ED APO Binoculars.

https://www.averywayobservatory.co.uk/
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

#3

Post by Bigzmey »


Congrats on the EAA Messier award EmeraldHillsSkies team!
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2437, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 257
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EmeraldHillsSkies United States of America
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Re: Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

#4

Post by EmeraldHillsSkies »


Wow -- this was a bigger deal than when we submitted the report to the SEDS site! : ) Thanks to you all for the volunteer work you do on this bulletin board! You are real encourages. I'm so glad Pete invited me here. I've found a new adopted family.
EAA Observing from the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Telescope: Celestron RASA 11 - Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Software: AstroPlanner (with occasional help from SkyTools 4 Pro), Stellarium, SharpCap and Nina (the latter purely for autofocusing).
YouTube 'EmeraldHillsSkies' https://www.youtube.com/@EmeraldHillsSkies
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John Baars Netherlands
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Re: Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

#5

Post by John Baars »


Congratulations on the EAA Messier award!
Great work, keep it up!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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helicon United States of America
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Re: Messier 110 Observing Report from our EAA Team

#6

Post by helicon »


Congrats on a huge accomplishment!
-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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