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Messier Marathon Madness, Anyone? by Dr. Bruce Strathdee, Chief Observer
During the month of March the sky is most favorably positioned for viewing each and every one of the 110 Messier objects during a single night’s observing. Completing a Messier Marathon is a personal rite of passage for many amateur astronomers. Around the time of the Vernal Equinox almost all the Messier objects are visible during a 12 hour stretch from sundown to sunrise. This year the best weekend nights to attempt the tally will be Friday and Saturday, March 28th and 29th. The moon will be a thin waning crescent which will rise late. This leaves us a dark star-spangled sky for most of the long night’s work of finding scores of faint fuzzies. This year we are invited to the Landers star party site operated by the Riverside Amateur Astronomers. They will be observing from Friday to Sunday. Come up for a day, or camp overnight if you wish. Of course, you may be able to accomplish the feat from your own backyard, or you could even break the event into two nights of viewing, all from the convenience of your own home. On the other hand, at Landers you would have the additional satisfaction of watching lots of other people freezing their butts off, too. And who was Mr. Messier, who nearly two centuries after his death still inspires other amateur astronomers to stand in the starlight on moonless March nights? Charles Messier (1730 – 1817) was the first person to discover comets as a result of an organized search for them. During his life he found twelve comets. But he compiled a list of over a hundred stationary, nebulous objects which merely masqueraded as cometary look-alikes. Armed with his list of “embarrassing objects” Messier could quickly dismiss these imposters from consideration during his nightly comet quests. You can almost hear Messier saying, as he methodically added a new item to his catalog, “Fool me once, shame on you……” Messier’s catalog was published in its final form, so far as he was concerned, in 1784. It contained 103 objects. Later astronomers and historians of astronomy discovered references to additional objects in Messier’s personal notes and letters. In 1921 the Sombrero Galaxy became M 104. Messier 105, 106 and 107 were added in 1947. Later, M 108 and M 109 were recommended by Owen Gingerich of Harvard University. M110 was added to the catalog in 1966, based on notes Messier had published in 1807. It has been suggested that finding and observing each of the Messier objects is the best exercise a beginning amateur astronomer can undertake. There is no better way to become acquainted with the richness and beauty of the night sky.
If this is your year to take up the challenge, remember to dress warmly, bring a supply of coffee, your telescope, binoculars, a star atlas, a list of Messier objects, a pencil to check off the objects located, a chair, a table and a perhaps a clipboard. I nominate long johns and gloves as Messier objects M 111 and M 112.
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