Please email me your Marathon 2001
results!
Messier Marathon 2001
The year 2001 (the first year of the new millennium) will offer a good
opportunity for hunting down
all 110 Messier objects, as New Moon occurs on
March 25 (weekend March 24-25, 2001).
This year, there will be a considerably good chance to combine the Messier
marathon with an all-planet marathon, i.e. you can observe all
solar-system planets during this night.
Some comets brighter than about mag 14.0 will be visible;
we will list them below, based on the JPL
List of Currently Visible Comets
(note: 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is here because of a recent outburst):
Comet RA (2000.0) Dec mag
March 27, 2001
24P/Schaumasse 04:00.83 +24:41.5 11.4
C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones) 12:27.22 -05:38.8 13.3
C/1999 T2 (LINEAR) 16:10.92 +32:32.5 13.3
C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley) 18:31.21 +58:41.0 9.1
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 19:11.32 -28:01.0 15.7 (Outburst ~11m)
The list is RA ordered and thus in the sequence the comets might be
observed from evening through midnight to morning.
Also,
meteors from various showers may occur, and depending on your
location, you may be able to observe the
International Space Station, ISS.
While most probably it will have been gone at preferred Marathon time -
Russia intends to sink it just timely to steel it away from our
observation on March 23-25, those with opportunity might try an early
Messier Marathon, to include such an observation - Mir will probably stay
to March 23. Consult the
Mir visibility website for info if it is visible from your site.
Messier Marathon Events 2001
At this time, the following Messier Marathon 2001 Events have been announced:
- The 2001 All Arizona Messier Marathon
will be held Saturday, March 24th at the
Arizona City site.
- The Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society (Nashville) will be holding
their 2nd annual Messier Marathon on the 24th and 25th of March, 2001.
This event will take place at their normal dark-sky site on Natchez
Trace Parkway in Tennessee. Contact Lonnie R. Puterbaugh at
lputerbaugh@irby.com for
more info. This event will begin at sunset and end at sunrise.
Non-members of the BSAS are welcome with an e-mail notice of their
desire to participate.
- The Black Canyon Astonomy Club plans a Messier Marathon on
March 28, 2001. Contact Monica N. Treadway at
Mntreadway@aol.com for more
info.
- Klaus Schulze-Frerichs is planning on his 2nd Messier marathon
(Mosborn Messier Marathon "Triple M") on march 24/25 in Frankfurt area
(50° N) Germany. Find more info on
his website.
- Russ Pinizzotto is planning a
Messier Marathon from Missouri, and is looking for other interested parties in
this area.
- The Celestron Nexstar e-Group (1200 members) and the Meade LX90
e-Group (260 members) are planning a long distance Messier Marathon
with estimated 50-100 members participating from locations around the
world. Info from Frank Dilatush
(Denver, CO).
- The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) is planning
Messier Marathon opportunities from all their sites on March 23 and 24,
2001. Check their website.
-
The Agrupacion Astronomica "Magallanes" of Jerez de la Frontera,
Cadiz, Spain is planning a Messier Marathon on March, 24 2001.
Contact Alberto Romero for more info.
-
The 2001 Westport Astronomical Society (WAS) Messier Marathon will be
held on the evening of March 23/24 at the Rolnick Observatory, 182 Bayberry
Lane, Westport, CT 06880. The "rain" date will be March 24/25. For
directions, check the WAS web site.
For more information, call WAS at (203) 227-0925 or
e-mail Cal Powell.
-
The Junior section of the Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association
(GRAAA) will be hosting a Messier Marathon on the weekend of March 23,
at the Veen Observatory in Lowell, MI. Contact
Dan Braybrook.
-
The Ohio Valley Astronomical Society, OVAS will conduct it's
Messier Marathon on 3/24/01, probably at the "Greasy Ridge" Site.
Directions are on their website,
or contact Rodger Blake.
-
TAC, The Astronomy Connection
sponsors a Messier Marathon on March 24, 2001 at their Lake San Antonio,
California site. Check their
event schedule.
-
The San Bernardino Valley Amateur Astronomers (SBVAA) and the
Bear Valley Amateur Astronomical Society will have a Messier Marathon
on the weekend of the 24, 25th of March at the Owl Canyon Campground north of
Barstow, California. For more information see the
SBVAA website.
-
The SLO (Society of Low energy Observers) will be having a Messier Marathon
on Saturday, March 24, 2001. Location is the Burton Site south of Memphis in
Northern Mississippi. Contact Todd Slisher at
slisher@midsouth.rr.com for more
information.
Please email me any scheduled
Messier Marathon 2001 events for announce here.
If you have undertaken, or participated in, a Messier Marathon, 2001 or earlier,
if not already done so, please email me
your or your group's results, or the link to your results page, for inclusion in
our Messier Marathon Results page!
Marathon Home
Hartmut Frommert
(spider@seds.org)
Christine Kronberg
(smil@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Last Modification: 12 Mar 2001, 8:25 MET