From: Dave Mitsky <djm28@psu.edu>
Subject: Messier Half Marathon, 3/29/98
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 17:48:06 -0500

Location: ASH Naylor Observatory, Lewisberry, PA
(http://www.msd.org/obs.htm)
Date: 3/29/98 UT
Time: 00:25 to 09:00 UT
Conditions: Seeing - fair, Transparency - mediocre to very poor (high
humidity and haze), Limiting Magnitude - less than 5.0
Instruments: 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube refractor, 5" f/5 finder scope
refractor, 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Newtonian, 16" f/4.5 Meade Starfinder
Newtonian equatorial, 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain
Oculars: 8mm Brandon, 12.4mm Meade Super Ploessl, 15mm Meade Super
Ploessl, 17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl, 18mm Meade SWA, 26mm Tele Vue Ploessl,
30mm Celestron Ultima, 2" 30mm Orion UltraScan, 1.25" and 2" 32mm
University Optics Koenig-II's, 2" 45mm U.O. Ploessl

Saturday was a beautiful day in south central Pennsylvania  and things
looked promising for the first ASH member star party of the year and
another stab at a Messier Marathon.  As it turned out fatigue,
competition for telescope time, and the weather limited me to observing
a total of 58, a good half-marathon if you will.  I located a number of
Messiers (M44, M45, M35, M65, M66, M104, M5, M13, M57, and M3) with my
80mm Orion ShortTube, two with a friend's 16" Meade Starfinder (M37 and
M38), and some with the 12.5" Cave (M35, M67, M105, M95, and M96).  The
rest were observed (or observed again) through the 17" classical
Cassegrain at 202x.

There was a moderately good member turn out and some new faces were
introduced to Supernova 1998S in NGC 3877.  Using the 17" Rob Job
located IC 694, the galaxy that Supernova 1998T is located in, but no
sign of the exploding star could be seen.

I got a second wind after some pizza and Pepsi and was really ready to
rock and roll later, after most of the others had departed.
Unfortunately, extremely hazy conditions developed and the remainder of
the Messier galaxies in Coma Berenices, Ursa Major, and Virgo that I
hadn't found were impossible to see.  I was limited to a bit of somewhat
clear sky in the east.  After logging a few Messier objects on the rise
things grew worse.  I finished up with M11 and drove home.

Look to the skies,
Dave Mitsky
ASH, DVAA