Messier Marathon

From South Dublin Astronomical Society

At the time of the new Moon near the end of March every year, something magical happens. On those nights every Messier object is visible in the night-sky on the same night. Many amateur astronomers since the 1960s have taken part in what has been dubbed the Messier Marathon, a race to view all the objects on the list in one session. This is not a time for relaxing your eyes and soaking up the view through your eyepieces, but instead a chance to practice and perfect your skills at hunting down these objects. The rewards are simply completing the list and ease at locating the objects at later stages. It’s not for everyone, and certainly not for the novice. For this observing program however, it is strongly recommended that the observer should pace themselves to undertake their observations throughout the course of one year. Multiple observations of the same target are also encouraged as the more time spent at the eyepiece, the easier it becomes to detect faint detail.

[edit]