Date: Thu, May 31, 2007 at 9:37 PM From: JKNASZ (Jon Zander) Subject: Messier Marathon 2007 results No one warned me that there would be hurdles in a marathon!, Messier Marathon March 19th/20th 2007 Okay, the Messier Marathon is challenging enough, but why did all this other stuff have to happen? All the weather web sites indicated clouds, at least 30% cover starting around 5 pm. So, there goes all that preparation, including my wife taking two days off of work so I could tackle this monster. Then I remembered the only sure way to fail is to not try at all, so I went anyways and the truck was already packed from a Girl Scout event I did last Saturday. But remember that cloudy forecast. It took me two-and-a-half hours to get to Mid Hills Campground MNP, which is okay but I had a late start getting on the road due to an emergency popping up with a friend. So, I chucked the tent overboard onto the garage floor knowing I would not have the time to set it up, and if anything went wrong I could just pack it all up and drive home. Got there by six, and put the telescopes together. Found the secondary had loosened again in the dob, so collimation took awhile longer than usual. The piggy-back device worked great for the Konus, but I'm going to have to make a minor modification before it can work perfectly. The focuser knob can rub against one of the rings, so I'll have to cut away some PVC to fix that, but it worked for the moment. Then, the first DAGNIT! moment struck. The laser collimator didn't work! Jeeze, did I leave it on for two days? Turns out the green laser uses the same batteries, and the laser is working, so a quick switch out. NO! The red laser still does not work. Then, while contemplating packing up right then and there, I nudge a wire inside the red laser and it turns on. I have to be careful putting it back together because it keeps turning on and off, but I get it to work and I can get that secondary lined up. Okay, equipment ready, salad eaten for dinner, charts arranged and bound into a three-ring binder--time to get started. DANGIT! #2! The first few targets are bleached out by Venus and are very hard to see. The Konus cannot see them at all, but the Starfinder just pulls them in. If I were to miss the first objects, I would have quit right there because it was 110 objects or nothing! After getting through the first sunset targets, I have some breathing room and I can pace myself. DANGIT #3! Stupid cow! Go tromp somewhere else! White light on the Celestron Power Tank sends it away before it walks right into my setup. I'm glad I got that device fixed. Konus is proving to be an excellent low power viewing 'scope and super viewfinder. All goes well up until Midnight and I stop at M83 for a one hour nap. The wind is picking up, and clouds along the periphery of my area are beginning to grow. Hopefully they will be blown far to the east. DANGIT #4! When I climb out of the truck, the clouds have become lenticular and are growing right over the mountains around the Colorado River a few miles to the east adding the Laughlin area LP to the problems. I decide to press on and target whatever objects are in a clear area. This has me jumping the viewing order between Cygnus and Ophiucus pretty severely, and I'm hoping not to miss any targets. By three in the morning, I cannot see anything from Aquilla to Scorpius, and I decide to quit and start packing up. Several deer come by to snort at me. What snoots! DANGIT #5! Just when I get the dob into the truck, the sky clears! It is now 4 am (really three for the marathon) and I decide to give it a go. However, I have lost the piggy-back configuration and do not have the time to put it back on, so I go with the "clean" dob style. The winds are still gusty, so the dob gets blown about a bit now that it is lighter. I also back off from the 8.8mm EP and go with the trusty 26mm so I can scan with the dob. I catch all the missed objects and get back on schedule pretty fast in the Sagittarius area. Good thing I only took a one hour break instead of two or I would have run out of time with the packing and unpacking. I encounter the objects I could not get two years ago and blow through them with minor difficulty. This boosts my morale alot! There is a chance to get all 110! One left--M30. It is now a race with the sunrise. Mars makes an excellent guidepost, but the clouds are starting to build in the east again! This makes for the final DANGIT! #6! I'm going to be stopped short by one object! I have already planned out how to set the scope to let M30 drift into view, but that was with the piggy-back setup and different size EPs. I'm going to have to rely entirely on the Telrad, and I cannot see the two stars I need to preset for a drift. Using Mars, I begin to scan just above the treeline at the time M30 should appear, and I seem to see it, and then it is gone -- the clouds wish to continue the battle. I have to let M30 climb and get above the clouds so I have a chance at it, which means the sunlight will be even stronger. What a paradox! Mars keeps in view as the sky gets brighter, and I use the Telrad to calculate when M30 should come out. I scan and see something that looks like a cluster, but I want a better look so I'm sure. Nope, the clouds are now growing westward as M30 climbs higher into the growing sunlight. I keep checking against Mars with the Telrad, and then what luck! I find the star I need to set up the drift, and hop from there. That is when I find the other star that is right next to M30, and at 58x I see a "star" that will not focus next to it. I check the chart and it is in the right position. When I come back to study my prize, the clouds have blocked it! I kept at it until Mars was drowned out by daylight, but I was able to confirm the sighting on my computer when I got home. I FINALLY DID IT--110 Messier Objects in one night with four planets and a one-day-old Moon thrown in!!!!!!! ** ** **** ** ** **** ** ** **** ** ** This also finishes my fourth tour through the list. I'm ready for a new Astro League list. :-) Oh, and these really were running around my campsite as I packed up for home. I now look forward to doing another Messier Marathon without all of the weather, equipment and animal issues. Also, during the break I revisited some objects to finish my Astronomical League Messier Club program--I now hold the Honorary Messier Club Certificate #2347. Jon Zander Boulder City, Nevada