It’s been a while since we’ve subjected ourselves to a Messier Marathon. Since our last go (when Luke set our group’s record of 104 objects imaged in one night) many of us have changed locations/vocations and either gotten new astro-toys or gotten rid of them 😮
We’re going to be assessing a new dark-sky site near Beloit, KS. The location already has electricity, Internet and ~Bortle 2 skies!
We’re planning on doing that during the next Messier Marathon window, on (or around) April 1st (weather permitting of course). If anyone is interested, we were going to do a Messier Minithon, where we visually observe as many objects as we can in a few hours until we poop out. Since we have great Internet access provided by NCKCN, we may try a Zoom or FaceTime meeting with all the participants and make a party out of it! In addition, we might try a web-cam to track progress for the general public. Watch this site for updates.
To begin, click here for a pdf detailing the list of messier objects in the order we will follow: http://messier.nckas.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/mmarathon2022.pdf
Here’s a Messier Minithon Checklist:
http://messier.nckas.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/mminithon2022checklist-1.pdf