Messier Marathon 2006

The 2006 Messier Marathon will perhaps be one of the last occasions to combine a nine-planet marathon with the Messier event, but Neptune will be extremely difficult if at all possible, Uranus also difficult in the morning. Some comets brighter than about mag 14.0 may be visible; we list them below from various sources (e.g., IAU's Observable Comets page, Gary Kronk's list of current comets and the Fachgruppe Kometen list):

Comet                         RA  (2000.0)  Dec  mag  
                                  March 26, 2006      

C/2005 E2 (McNaught)          01:43.96 +21:18.3   9.4
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann      02:24.21 +23:02.5  15.7  has outbursts! (c. 13m)
C/2003 WT42 (LINEAR)          09:39.21 +51:48.9   9.9
73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann      14:31.26 +17:54.3  12.4
71P/Clark                     17:19.22 -19:47.1  13.6
C/2004 B1 (LINEAR)            20:27.17 -20:41.2  14.5
C/2006 A1 (Pojmanski)         22:02.38 +43:13.6   8.7

Note that occasionally comets become bright shortly (like Hyakutake in 1996, Ikeya-Zhang and Utsunomiya in 2002), so check back for possible updates shortly before Marathon date.

This year 2006, supernova 2006X in M100 flashed up just in time (on February 7, 2006) to provide hopes for an enrichment of the Messier Marathon.

Also, meteors from various showers may occur, and depending on your location, you may be able to observe the International Space Station, ISS.

• The 2006 All Arizona Messier Marathon, sponsored again by the Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC) (for the 12th time), will be held in the night of the weekend of March 25/26, 2006 at the site south of Arizona City. - A.J. Crayon & Jack Jones
  Also see their short pre-announce and SAC's 2006 All Messier Marathon announce.
• The Texas Astronomical Society is hosting a 2006 Messier Marathon club challenge at their dark site near Atoka, OK. They have challenged the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club to bring their best for a series of observing events, which they have coined "The First Annual Red River Messier Marathon Shootout." - Lonnie Wege
• Sorin Hotea will again organize a National Romania Messier Marathon in 2006 via his Messier Marathon webpage, http://www.astroclubul.org/sorin/messier/ - whoever wants to participate can do so. Sorin will try his personal Messier Marathon from near Sighetu-Marmatiei in northern Romania with a 150-mm Dobson. - Sorin Hotea
• The Birmingham Astronomical Society of Birmingham Alabama will be hosting its first annual Messier Marathon on the weekend of March 25/26th with a back up venue set for the weekend of 1/2 April 2006. The Marathon will be held at the clubs dark sky site at Chandler Mountain, Al near Horse Pens 40. - Ed Knight
• The San Francisco Amateur Astronomers (SFAA) is going to run their 2006 SFAA Messier Marathon on March 25/26, 2006 at at Mount Tamalpais State Park, Rock Springs parking lot. Note this is a Special Use Permit (SUP) event, open to SFAA members only. Look at their marathon webpage, http://www.jotabout.com/sfaa/marathon_2006.html for more info. - Kenneth Frank (VP AANC)
• The San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) will be hosting the 2006 Messier marathon on March 25/26 at Henry Coe State Park. The 2006 Messier marathon will be held at the overflow parking area at Henry Coe. Directions can be found at the SJAA website. There is a $5.00 per vehicle night use fee or a $12 fee if you use a campsite. - Bob & Brenda Havner, via Kenneth Frank (also a SJAA member)
• SWAP - Sky Watchers Association of Pune (India) - will be conducting the 2006 Messier Marathon on March 25-26, from Girawali, about 90 km north of Pune. - Harshad Abhyankar
• Robert Burgess of Terrace Observatory is planning an attempt to image as many Messier Objects as possible from a suburban sky, from Terrace Observatory site east of Toronto in Durham Region, Ontario. The marathon will occur over one night during the period of March 24th through April 2nd. Details can be found at Terrace Observatory Messier Marathon 2006 webpage. - Robert Burgess
• The Astronomical Society of Las Cruces will hold its 3rd annual marathon on Saturday, March 25th. - Rich Richins
• The Kutch Astronomy Club are planning their first Messier Marathon this year from Bhuj city in the Kutch District, Gujarat State, India (23:18N, 69:42E). They will be using two 6-inch telescopes and binoculars. Two events will occur: The first on March 25-26, 2006, and the second on April 1-2, 2006, both from a dark site west of Bhuj City. - Narendra Gor (President, Kutch Astronomy Club, Bhuj)
• The Annual Video Messier Marathon for 2006 is scheduled by the Centennial Observatory of the Herrett Center for Arts and Science, College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, Idaho on March 25-26, 2006, from 7:00pm to 6:00am MST. A computer controlled 24" telescope will send live video images of the Messier objects which will be displayed to the audience. The event will be free for the public. Also, CCD images are planned to be uploaded on a special website. See their full announce! - Chris Anderson
• The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) woll hold two Messier Marathopn sessions in 2006, the first on March 25th at Crockett Park and the second on April 29th at Camp High Road. Find details on their Messier Marathon Resource webpage - Ciprian "Chip" Sufitchi
• The Astronomic Academy of Taipei, Taiwan will be having a Messier Marathon Compatition in Taiwan for astronomic fans. The competition will be going on April 1-2, 2006. - Keng-Min Lin
• The Agrupacion Astronomica de Cadiz "Hercules" (Spain) will hold 2 Messier Marathon 2006 sessions: the first on March 25th at Pantano del Celemin (Benalup-Spain) and the second on April 1st at Tavizna (Ubrique-Spain).

If you have undertaken, or participated in, a Messier Marathon, 2006 or earlier, if not already done so, please send me your or your group's results, or the link to your results page, for inclusion in our Messier Marathon Results page!

Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
[contact]

Last Modification: March 31, 2006