Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

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setnes
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Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

Post by setnes »

This year's Messier Marathon is scheduled for this Friday or Saturday at CGO. I will be making a call on the weather later this week.

Prizes will be awarded at the following MAS meeting.

The goal of the event is simple. Observe as many Messier objects as possible in one evening.

More info to follow.
Last edited by setnes on Fri Apr 01, 2022 5:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SEmert
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by SEmert »

Hoping for clear skies!
In case they may help anyone, attached are a copy of the S&T Messier chart and a copy of a suggested Messier Marathon search order, both in the original Excel format and also converted to a .pdf.
Attachments
MessierMarathonSequence_v1.1.pdf
(56.46 KiB) Downloaded 168 times
MessierMarathonSequence_v1.1.xlsx
(17.92 KiB) Downloaded 152 times
S&T Messier Chart.pdf
(4.37 MiB) Downloaded 150 times
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merle
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by merle »

FYI - We do have a Messier Marathon web page...

http://www.mnastro.org/messier-marathon/
Clear skies,
Merle Hiltner
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setnes
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by setnes »

It's only Wednesday, so there's time for this to change, but I thought I'd share the current weather forecast. This points to Saturday over Friday for this event. (not an official call)

Screenshot 2022-03-30 2.54.06 PM.png
Screenshot 2022-03-30 2.54.06 PM.png (185.63 KiB) Viewed 6559 times
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defalkner
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by defalkner »

I know it's not the official call but the forecast has been pretty consistent all week and I agree Saturday looks better than Friday.
Clear skies!
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by Scooter »

I just checked with clear sky site and it also agrees.
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setnes
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by setnes »

I also agree. The Messier Marathon is officially OFF for Friday night.

I will wait before giving an official call for Saturday night. There is a reason for hope though.
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setnes
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 1 or 2, 2022)

Post by setnes »

We are about 24 hours from the event on Saturday and the forecast has been consistently good for the first half of the evening. The different forecast sites also seem to be in agreement. I am calling this event ON for Saturday night. Please dress warm!

Screenshot 2022-04-01 5.40.08 PM.png
Screenshot 2022-04-01 5.40.08 PM.png (208.35 KiB) Viewed 6471 times
Scooter
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

Post by Scooter »

See you all there. Scooter
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setnes
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

Post by setnes »

Here are the Messier Marathon Sheets for tonight. You can also use your own if you have an observing order preference. I will print and bring some of these along. One is an optimized Messier observation order and the other is ordered by Messier number.

Messier_Marathon_2022-04-02-CGO_Observing_Order.pdf
(79.88 KiB) Downloaded 140 times
Messier_Marathon_2022-04-02-CGO_Messier_Order.pdf
(80.34 KiB) Downloaded 136 times
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

Post by TrenaJ »

Thank you everyone that came out to CGO, whether there to hang out or to run through some MM objects. All appreciated!
Thank you Kris for the print outs and doing our Go/No Go call.

I would love to hear your story and maybe what object was your favorite of the night.
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setnes
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

Post by setnes »

There were 11 of us at CGO on Saturday for the Messier Marathon. It was cold and frosty, but there were moments of excellent sky between passing clouds. These are the results I have. Not everybody turned in a sheet as they left, so I might not have all scores yet.

Don Gazdik -- 104
Kristopher Setnes -- 76
John & Emily Meyers -- 25
Scott Hash -- 25 (Used GOTO)
Trena Johnson -- 13
Ron Cooper -- 8
Last edited by setnes on Thu Apr 07, 2022 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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setnes
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Re: Messier Marathon (CGO: April 2, 2022) is ON for Saturday!

Post by setnes »

My battery died at about 3 am.

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