Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

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jjones7777
Posts: 583
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:02 pm
Real Name: Jerry Jones
Location: Stillwater, MN

Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

Post by jjones7777 »

Greetings all,

I'm happy to announce the 2015 MAS Mini-Messier Marathon was a success. While the clouds caused the first few hours to be 'sucker-hole observing', things cleared up very well after about 11:30 pm (the Canadians got this one right!). Once the wind died down around 12:30 am, the evening turned into a really outstanding late-fall observing night. Nancy Rauschenberg took top honors with 50 Messier object and won her much-coveted sweatshirt. Dick Jacobsen came in second w/ 34 objects and Kris (who's last name I can't remember - sorry!) took 3rd w/ 32. I'll have your certificates at the next MAS meeting (Dick, let me know which prize you want: a ball cap or a coffee mug). We had about 11 people in attendance, many of them there to simply enjoy a fine fall night sky.

For those of you who were there, feel free to offer additional comments regarding the evening.
Jerry Jones
MAS Observing Co-Chair
Astronomical League Awards Coordinator
AL recognized Master Observer, Silver Level
15" "Eagle Eye"; 12.5" Obsession; C11 Edge in a SkyShedPod; 8" SCT; 152mm ES doublet; 105mm Mak; 94mm Brandon; 1957 Questar; 35mm Lunt Ha
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jjones7777
Posts: 583
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:02 pm
Real Name: Jerry Jones
Location: Stillwater, MN

Re: Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

Post by jjones7777 »

Kris Setnes took 3rd place.
Jerry Jones
MAS Observing Co-Chair
Astronomical League Awards Coordinator
AL recognized Master Observer, Silver Level
15" "Eagle Eye"; 12.5" Obsession; C11 Edge in a SkyShedPod; 8" SCT; 152mm ES doublet; 105mm Mak; 94mm Brandon; 1957 Questar; 35mm Lunt Ha
Enberg
Posts: 612
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:23 pm
Location: Athens, Ohio

Re: Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

Post by Enberg »

Thanks, Jerry, for the snacks and the Fall observing order handouts, and for taking care of the weather. I had fun last night! And I will wear my hard-earned sweatshirt with pride - it only took me two cancelled observing challenges, 3 A-Day door prize drawings and a CWTS raffle to win it!
Master Observer
Orion XT10 dob
Orion StarBlast 4.5" f4 on a Dwarfstar alt-az mount
Vortex 10 x 56 binocs
Orion 150mm f12 MakCas
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merle
Posts: 3962
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:04 am
Location: Farmington / Lakeville

Re: Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

Post by merle »

Congratulations Nancy… and an impressive number of Messier's on a less than perfect night.

Merle
Clear skies,
Merle Hiltner
MAS Eagle Lake Observatory
Onan Observatory • Sylvia A. Casby Observatory • HotSpot Classroom
merle.hiltner@gmail.com
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setnes
Posts: 541
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2015 10:44 pm
Real Name: Kristopher Setnes
Location: Bloomington, MN
Contact:

Re: Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

Post by setnes »

Thanks to everybody for putting this together. I had a lot of fun. I didn't expect to be much of a competitor. I really just wanted to knock some more objects off my own list. Of the 32 objects I logged last night, 10 of them were new objects for me. That brought my personal, ongoing, Messier total to 46. (all with a 6" F5 Dob)

Did anybody figure out if there was a proton arc aurora last night? I believe Dave was convinced it was just contrails.

Thanks again!
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Dick Jacobson
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:21 pm
Location: Cottage Grove, MN

Re: Saturday's 4M a SUCCESS.

Post by Dick Jacobson »

After years of pooh-pooh-ing the whole idea of Messier Marathons (in my mind), I'm finding that they are really enjoyable and a wonderful way to practice star hopping and getting to know the sky. Thanks, Jerry, for a great job of organizing this event. Thanks also to Vic Heiner, Steve Emert, and all the others who have working so hard to bring the Cherry Grove site into grate condition.
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
10-inch Newtonian that folds flat
6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
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