From: Mark Deprest To: spider Subject: My Messier Marathon Results Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 14:02:02 -0500 **************************************** * Messier Marathon Observer's Form * **************************************** This file presents the Messier objects in the order of the Marathon Search Sequence given by Don Machholz in his "Messier Marathon Observer's Guide", suited so that you can fill in your observations easily. Messier Marathon Search Sequence ================================ Compiled online by Hartmut Frommert, using work of Don Machholz. Depending on geographic location, it may be impossible to find them all, and may be better to slightly modify this list. In case of doubt consult Don Machholz's book. This list should be good for northern latitudes 20 to 40. My Messier Marathon =================== Date: 03.12.1999 Observer: Mark Deprest, President, University Lowbrow Astronomers Loc: Lake Hudson State Rec. Area Lat:N41 50.274' Long:W84 14.638' Time Zone: EST Instruments used: Meade 8" f/6 Newtonian / Dob. Mount - 32mm Sirius Plossl Eyepiece General Comments: Sky was clear, Temp. was 28 deg. at sunset and continued to drop to about 15 deg. Very dark site Occasionally a light haze would reduce the visual mag. limit, but the overall seeing conditions I rate at 8.5 out of 10. The cold ended my MM at 04:30 3.13.1999. The Object List: ================ No. M# NGC# Con Type Your# Time Comments 1. M77 1068 Cet G S 9 19:59 Bright center helped to confirm 2. M74 628 Psc G S 11 20:07 Star field & scope movement confirm 3. M33 598 Tri G S 10 20:04 Very faint / seeing 7.5/10 4. M31 224 And G S 2 19:38 Very bright 5. M32 221 And G E 3 19:40 Very bright small and round 6. M110 205 And G E 8 19:52 Very faint averted vision comfirm 7. M52 7654 Cas OCl 4 19:45 Big, bright & beautiful 8. M103 581 Cas OCl 5 19:46 Always a pretty cluster 9. M76 650 Per Pl 6 19:48 Very small, very bright 10. M34 1039 Per OCl 7 19:55 Bright, large 11. M45 - Tau OCl 1 19:33 Naked eye visible 12. M79 1904 Lep Gl 12 20:11 Nice globular, I forget its there 13. M42 1976 ori DN 13 20:17 Huge bright, 6* in trap. @ 250x 14. M43 1982 Ori DN 14 20:17 Beautiful comma shape 15. M78 2068 Ori DN 15 20:18 Very bright, I often overlook 16. M1 1952 Tau SNR 16 20:19 Distinctive "S" shape, Bright 17. M35 2168 Gem OCl 17 20:22 Always a favorite, w/NGC 2158 18. M37 2099 Aur OCl 18 20:33 Bright, easy to find 19. M36 1960 Aur OCl 19 20:34 Bright 20. M38 1922 Aur OCl 20 20:35 My favorite w/NGC 1907, Beautiful! 21. M41 2287 CMa OCl 21 20:40 Very nice cluster, bright 22. M93 2447 Pup OCl 22 20:44 big, bright fills FOV 23. M47 2422 Pup OCl 23 20:48 bright cluster 24. M46 2437 Pup OCl 24 20:49 just a little nudge of the scope 25. M50 2323 Mon OCl 25 20:50 large, loose cluster 26. M48 2548 Hya OCl 26 20:52 Big, Bright 27. M44 2632 Cnc OCl 27 20:53 Beehive, always nice 28. M67 2628 Cnc OCl 28 20:55 Bright w/lots of stars 29. M95 3351 Leo G S 29 20:58 3 galaxies in one FOV 30. M96 3368 Leo G S 30 20:58 very bright, always a good group 31. M105 3379 Leo G E 31 20:58 for public star parties 32. M65 3623 Leo G S 32 21:00 2 galaxies in one FOV 33. M66 3627 Leo G S 33 21:00 both very bright 34. M81 3031 UMa G S 34 21:03 2 more galaxies in one FOV 35. M82 3034 UMa GIr 35 21:03 Dark lane @ 200x very nice 36. M97 3587 UMa Pl 36 21:14 Wow! I forgot how big this is 37. M108 3556 UMa G S 37 21:15 Another little nudge of the scope 38. M109 3992 UMa G S 38 21:16 very nice tonight, bright 39. M40 - UMa 2St 39 21:17 Winnecke 4 ... not a comet! 40. M106 4258 CVn G S 40 21:21 Very bright, large 41. M94 4736 CVn G S 41 21:23 My first galaxy, seen thru a scope 42. M63 5055 CVn G S 42 21:24 Very bright 43. M51 5194 CVn G S 43 21:27 Whirlpool! Very nice!!! Bright! 44. M101 5457 UMa G S 44 21:29 faint hint of spiral arms 45. M102? 5866 Dra GS0 xx __:__ not a Messier item 46. M53 5024 Com Gl 45 21:51 nice, very bright 47. M64 4826 Com G S 46 21:55 Very bright! nice, tight 48. M3 5272 CVn Gl 47 21:59 Big, Bright, Beautiful 49. M98 4192 Com G S 48 22:02 An edge on beauty 50. M99 4254 Com G S 49 22:03 bright, large, round 51. M100 4321 Com G S 50 22:04 nice, large 52. M85 4382 Com GS0 51 22:05 very pretty, bright 53. M84 4374 Vir GS0 52 22:06 2 galaxies in one FOV 54. M86 4406 Vir GS0 53 22:06 both bright and round shaped 55. M87 4486 Vir G E 54 22:07 very nice 56. M89 4552 Vir G E 55 22:09 2 more in one FOV 57. M90 4569 Vir G S 56 22:09 both bright 58. M88 4501 Com G S 57 22:11 very nice, bright 59. M91 4548 Com G S 58 22:13 darn, there are a lot of galaxies 60. M58 4579 Vir G S 59 22:14 another galaxy... bright 61. M59 4621 Vir G E 60 22:16 2 more in one FOV 62. M60 4649 Vir G E 61 22:16 both nice & bright 63. M49 4472 Vir G E 62 22:17 I always like this one 64. M61 4303 Vir G S 63 22:21 will these galaxies ever end? 65. M104 4594 Vir G S 64 22:23 Last One & its the best!!! After a little coffee, a little nap, and a lot of warming up. Its time to get a few more. 66. M68 4590 Hya Gl 65 01:25 nice fuzzy globular 67. M83 5236 Hya G S 66 01:26 nice galaxy! this one completed my Messier search 3 years ago. 68. M5 5904 Ser Gl 67 01:32 One of the prettiest globulars 69. M13 6205 Her Gl 68 01:33 Hercules' finest! 70. M92 6341 Her Gl 69 01:35 Very nice, bright! 71. M57 6720 Lyr Pl 70 01:36 The Ring Nebula! Time for another short break, it seems to have gotten much colder! 72. M56 6779 Lyr Gl 71 02:22 nice, often forgotten 73. M29 6913 Cyg OCl 72 02:25 I need to let these get higher 74. M39 7092 Cyg OCl 73 02:35 Big!! Bright!! 75. M27 6853 Vul Pl 81 03:17 Wow! that one is pretty low 76. M71 6838 Sge Gl 82 03:20 even lower than the last one 77. M107 6171 Oph Gl 80 02:55 nice bright 78. M12 6218 Oph Gl 74 02:43 bright, round 79. M10 6254 Oph Gl 75 02:44 very bright 80. M14 6402 Oph Gl 79 02:53 fuzzy, kinda low in the sky 81. M9 6333 Oph Gl 78 02:48 nice 82. M4 6121 Sco Gl 77 02:47 Hey, when did scorpius rise? 83. M80 6093 Sco Gl 76 02:46 I always like this one, Bright! 84. M19 6273 Oph Gl 83 03:26 I am working in soupy atmosphere 85. M62 6266 Oph Gl 84 03:29 I can just make this one out 86. M6 6405 Sco OCl 85 03:50 Had some trouble finding this one 87. M7 6475 Sco OCl 86 04:00 I am freezing and can't warm up 88. M11 6705 Sct OCl 87 04:10 That's it! I am too cold and too tired to do anymore. I need warm bed. I have a job interview at 10:00 today ... need sleep! BYE 89. M26 6694 Sct OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 90. M16 6611 Ser OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 91. M17 6618 Sgr DN _____ __:__ ________________________________ 92. M18 6613 Sgr OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 93. M24 >6603 Sgr OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 94. M25 I4725 Sgr OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 95. M23 6494 Sgr OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 96. M21 6531 Sgr OCl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 97. M20 6514 Sgr DN _____ __:__ ________________________________ 98. M8 6523 Sgr DN _____ __:__ ________________________________ 99. M28 6626 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 100. M22 6656 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 101. M69 6637 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 102. M70 6681 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 103. M54 6715 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 104. M55 6809 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 105. M75 6864 Sgr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 106. M15 7078 Peg Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 107. M2 7089 Aqr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 108. M72 6981 Aqr Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ 109. M73 6994 Aqr 4St _____ __:__ ________________________________ 110. M30 7099 Cap Gl _____ __:__ ________________________________ *********************************** * * * * * Score: 87 of 109 !! * * * * * *********************************** Key: No. : Don Machholz' sequence number M# : Messier number NGC# : NGC (or IC) number Con : Constellation (abbrevated) Type : Object Type (see below) Your# : Your actual sequence number Time : Your observing time (in your time zone) Comments: Any important observing circumstances/results etc. Types: OCl=Open Cluster, Gl=Globular Cluster, Pl=Planetary Nebula, DN=Diffuse Nebula, G S=Spiral Galaxy, G E=Elliptical Galaxy, GIr=Irrgeular Galaxy, GS0=Lenticular (S0) Galaxy, SNR=SNR, 2St=Binary Star, 4St=4 Star System Hartmut Frommert - http://www.seds.org/~spider/ Christine Kronberg - http://www.maa.mhn.de/P/smil.html