Contributed by Doug Lucas Date: Sat, Feb 1, 2025, 3:49 AM Subject: Report on Messier Marathon April 6, 2024 On the evening of April 6, 2024, we were able to capture 108 of the 110 Messier Catalog objects, losing only M74 and M77 in the setting sun. We observed from our observatory on the southeastern edge of Louisville, KY. Below (attached) is the results list I kept. I recorded (live-streamed) the entire event at: https://www.youtube.com/live/o1ZybMXseds?si=t_jRCyDiB3dU-9QT Various members of the community at Emerald Hills Skies observing community joined me throughout the night. If you *do* publish the results, please mention "Stu" (from Tuaranga, New Zealand) and "Tiffanyandtheshihtsu" (from California) - who lasted through the entire marathon, observing with me via the YouTube stream. It was probably our smoothest marathon to date - even though we missed M74 and M77. --------------- ID Local Date/Time Notes ---- ----------------- ----- M33 4/6/2024 8:54 PM We could only catch the core of M33... along with its other bright star...HIP 7269A in the treetops M110 4/6/2024 9:06 PM Sadly, we could see the cores of M31, m32, and M110. We were looking through lots of treetops. M31 4/6/2024 9:06 PM Sadly, we could see the cores of M31, m32, and M110. We were looking through lots of treetops. M32 4/6/2024 9:06 PM Sadly, we could see the cores of M31, m32, and M110. We were looking through lots of treetops. M79 4/6/2024 9:14 PM We could make out the tidal tail. M52 4/6/2024 9:17 PM It really does look like salt and pepper. M103 4/6/2024 9:19 PM smallish cluster M76 4/6/2024 9:29 PM We could easily the N/S poles and could see hints of the E/W "poles." M34 4/6/2024 9:32 PM This cluster almost looks like a multi-petaled flower to us. Very open. M45 4/6/2024 9:39 PM The nebulosity was beautiful even after just 60 seconds. M42 4/6/2024 9:47 PM incredible. Stars forming. "Fire-breathing goose." Tiffany saw it. M43 4/6/2024 9:47 PM incredible. Stars forming. "Fire-breathing goose." Tiffany saw it. M78 4/6/2024 9:53 PM We identified it as a ghost before seeing the "Caspar" name in Stellarium. : ) M41 4/6/2024 9:57 PM zillions of stars!!!! How can God know of these by name????? M93 4/6/2024 10:04 PM Soooo many stars! M46 4/6/2024 10:13 PM Saw the the planetary in M46. Beautiful. Nice view of both clusters -- M46 and M47 in our FOV. M47 4/6/2024 10:13 PM Saw the the planetary in M46. Beautiful. Nice view of both clusters -- M46 and M47 in our FOV. M50 4/6/2024 10:18 PM I'm just not seeing the arrowhead. ... ok... finally saw it, without Tiffany's help. The heart is more easily discerned. M48 4/6/2024 10:23 PM Nice cluster... 100 stars? M1 4/6/2024 10:29 PM LOTS of structure.. hydrogen alpha, ... lots of greens... Amazing from that 1054 explosion. M35 4/6/2024 10:35 PM We're going ask Tiffany to find the shoebuckle: She says she sees it... a square form... like a pilgrim shoe buckle. M37 4/6/2024 10:40 PM Amazing bunch of stars... supposedly a planetary neb. here but Stellarium doesn't have it, nor did SkyTools. Need more research on this. M36 4/6/2024 10:45 PM We get the point on the Pinwheel. Seriously... 5 or 6 distinct points. M38 4/6/2024 10:49 PM This looked a lot like the pinwheel cluster to me. M44 4/6/2024 10:56 PM We clearly could see the V of the manger... but TONIGHT, we could see a perfect donkey!!! We sooooo wanted to annotate the sharpcap screen. M67 4/6/2024 11:03 PM I couldn't see the King Cobra OR the golden eye... 500 members. looked populated! M105 4/6/2024 11:11 PM We could easily see the bar in M95. But only one bar in M96... However we could make out the asymmetrical core and arma... affected by tidal forces. M105 indeed looked blobbish. : ) M95 4/6/2024 11:11 PM We could easily see the bar in M95. But only one bar in M96... However we could make out the asymmetrical core and arma... affected by tidal forces. M105 indeed looked blobbish. : ) M96 4/6/2024 11:11 PM We could easily see the bar in M95. But only one bar in M96... However we could make out the asymmetrical core and arma... affected by tidal forces. M105 indeed looked blobbish. : ) M65 4/6/2024 11:18 PM Beautiful spiral of M65 and amazing asymmetrical M66... completely in a waltz with this NGC3628 hamburger, which is edge-on exactly. The dust bisseting it. M66 4/6/2024 11:18 PM Beautiful spiral of M65 and amazing asymmetrical M66... completely in a waltz with this NGC3628 hamburger, which is edge-on exactly. The dust bisseting it. M81 4/6/2024 11:30 PM Wow.. Bode's looked great -- ESPECIALLY after Frank reminded us of the 2 green cells in each pixel. I used the shift key and pulled the green bar down ever-so-slightly to get rid of some of Tiffany's errant Green. M82 4/6/2024 11:30 PM Wow.. Bode's looked great -- ESPECIALLY after Frank reminded us of the 2 green cells in each pixel. I used the shift key and pulled the green bar down ever-so-slightly to get rid of some of Tiffany's errant Green. M108 4/6/2024 11:40 PM M108 looks like another example of a fireburst galaxy. We could see reddish tinges in the outer belt of M97 the Owl. M97 4/6/2024 11:40 PM M108 looks like another example of a fireburst galaxy. We could see reddish tinges in the outer belt of M97 the Owl. M109 4/6/2024 11:45 PM We saw the bar after just 60 secs of intergration. The complex spiral arm structure is amazing!!!! It really does look a bit like the side view of a vacuum cleaner roller! The farthest Messier object... 67 million LY (+- 23 million) M40 4/6/2024 11:51 PM 2 stars. M106 4/6/2024 11:57 PM We wish this galaxy would make noise. Larry said, "The music of the spheres." I bet it would crackle and thunder. Looks like Lando Calorissian's home place. M94 4/7/2024 12:14 AM Beautiful flocked like cotton candy outer ring system. Amazing detail in inner rings. LARGE core. Gorgeous. M63 4/7/2024 12:17 AM Really does look like a sunflower... or a giant flat pizza of cotton candy. Bright core. M51 4/7/2024 12:24 AM Can't help but see that lizard catching a fly -- or, as Stu put it, a chameleon catching a firefly. LOTS of detail on these arms. fireworks. M101 4/7/2024 12:30 AM Amazing starbursts in the arms. Beautiful detail even after just 3 min. M102 4/7/2024 12:36 AM Some dissension about which object was which, if any -- but either way, the Spindle Galaxy is a worthy object to include. edge-on ... looks like a George Jetson car. M53 4/7/2024 12:39 AM Snowball. M64 4/7/2024 12:46 AM Terrifying. Jabberwocky. Lewis Carrol stuf. -- or just a galaxy with a big cloud of dust under its core. M3 4/7/2024 12:48 AM Another one of Tiffany's globbies. "Wow'd" us from the first frame. Snowball.. green tint. M98 4/7/2024 12:52 AM 44 million LY away. approaching us. : ) near edge-on. M100 4/7/2024 12:59 AM We could see the effects of tidal ineractions... M100 had an arm that looked like it had been a coiled snake ready to strike. We could see the star-forming regions... after just 5 min. M99 4/7/2024 12:59 AM We could see the effects of tidal ineractions... M100 had an arm that looked like it had been a coiled snake ready to strike. We could see the star-forming regions... after just 5 min. M85 4/7/2024 1:04 AM This blob is fat or Plus-sized, depending on whether you ask Gearrd or Stu. No arms. M84 4/7/2024 1:11 AM Two blobs in the Markarian chain. M86 4/7/2024 1:11 AM Two blobs in the Markarian chain. M87 4/7/2024 1:19 AM We literally saw that spur... the 5000-LY relativistic jet -- after 20 seconds. Wow. Amazing. M89 4/7/2024 1:30 AM 89 was an interesting blob with lots of glow. 90 was a cool spiral but 91... the missing object... was even cooler. We could see the bar early on.... Rings out of alignment M90 4/7/2024 1:30 AM 89 was an interesting blob with lots of glow. 90 was a cool spiral but 91... the missing object... was even cooler. We could see the bar early on.... Rings out of alignment M91 4/7/2024 1:30 AM 89 was an interesting blob with lots of glow. 90 was a cool spiral but 91... the missing object... was even cooler. We could see the bar early on.... Rings out of alignment M88 4/7/2024 1:34 AM This Virgo cluster is *crazy* filled with all KINDS of stuff... but especially, all these wild galaxies!!!! This one is pitched just right ... to show off it's arms and face. M58 4/7/2024 1:39 AM So. many. galaxies. barred. 68 million light years away. That's so crazy. M59 4/7/2024 1:45 AM These super-massive black holes scare me to death. 4.5 billion solar masses just in the black hole alone. Boy M59 and M60 have SMBHs but the M60 bh is inactive. M60 4/7/2024 1:45 AM These super-massive black holes scare me to death. 4.5 billion solar masses just in the black hole alone. Boy M59 and M60 have SMBHs but the M60 bh is inactive. M49 4/7/2024 1:49 AM So many globbies (to quote Tiffany) in this M49 galaxy... 5900... count em. M61 4/7/2024 1:55 AM This M61 is crazy the way the spiral arms look so straightened out in some sections!!!! M104 4/7/2024 1:59 AM Reminds us of the hamburger galaxy in that it has dust lane bisecting the edge-on effect. M68 4/7/2024 2:01 AM Cool glob. M83 4/7/2024 2:06 AM Such a messy-looking galaxy, apparently from the interaction with NGC5253. M5 4/7/2024 2:08 AM beautiful icycle glob. Looks like Christmas. M13 4/7/2024 2:14 AM So huge. Several hundred thousand stars. M92 4/7/2024 2:16 AM Cool glob M57 4/7/2024 2:36 AM Had to refocus first. Could see the central star in this planetary... as well as greens and reds and everything in between after just 100 seconds. M56 4/7/2024 2:38 AM we could observe this with just 3 second images. M29 4/7/2024 2:39 AM We could instantlysee the cooling tower asterism. Not as many stars in this cluster M39 4/7/2024 2:41 AM Only 30 stars or so. M27 4/7/2024 2:46 AM Clear apple-core-look after just 100 seconds. Saw the central star and out E/W lobes. M71 4/7/2024 2:47 AM Angelfish cluster glob M12 4/7/2024 2:58 AM loose glob M16 4/7/2024 3:27 AM Brilliant... Pillar of creation M10 4/7/2024 4:34 AM Nice glob M14 4/7/2024 4:37 AM like a galaxy on its own. M107 4/7/2024 4:39 AM faint M9 4/7/2024 4:41 AM like a Christmas decoration M4 4/7/2024 4:43 AM many of these globs have more of a yellowish tinge M80 4/7/2024 4:45 AM bright core! M19 4/7/2024 4:46 AM odd that it's flattened M62 4/7/2024 4:48 AM It really does appear to flicker M6 4/7/2024 4:49 AM It really does look like a butterfly M7 4/7/2024 4:51 AM Can't tell where cluster stops and stars of the Milky Way begin. M11 4/7/2024 4:53 AM So beautiful. M26 4/7/2024 4:54 AM Wouldn't have realized it was even a cluster M18 4/7/2024 5:00 AM So much detail in these H2 regions of M17; ... and M18 makes a great companion. M17 4/7/2024 5:03 AM M17 is GLORIOUS! Amazing H2 region... LOTS of detail. M24 4/7/2024 5:08 AM This is just fabulous. A giant cloud of stars! M25 4/7/2024 5:11 AM est 60 members M23 4/7/2024 5:13 AM Nice open cluster M20 4/7/2024 5:28 AM Words can't describe the incredible details of the Lagoon Nebula. These Bok globules deserve more study -- as does Herschel's Hourglass nebula. It's a show-stopper. M20 is equally gorgeous... and M21 adds to the glitter M21 4/7/2024 5:28 AM Words can't describe the incredible details of the Lagoon Nebula. These Bok globules deserve more study -- as does Herschel's Hourglass nebula. It's a show-stopper. M20 is equally gorgeous... and M21 adds to the glitter M8 4/7/2024 5:28 AM Words can't describe the incredible details of the Lagoon Nebula. These Bok globules deserve more study -- as does Herschel's Hourglass nebula. It's a show-stopper. M20 is equally gorgeous... and M21 adds to the glitter M22 4/7/2024 5:30 AM Nice glob M28 4/7/2024 5:31 AM greenish tinge. Nice glob. M69 4/7/2024 5:33 AM faint, tiny glob M70 4/7/2024 5:35 AM So tiny... how did Messier discover this? M54 4/7/2024 5:36 AM Doesn't LOOK 9 arc-minutes M55 4/7/2024 5:39 AM It really needed the benefit of a 20 second exposure. M75 4/7/2024 5:42 AM The tiniest M15 4/7/2024 5:44 AM Cool that there are X-rays there. M2 4/7/2024 5:46 AM 12.5 apparent billion years old. Wow. M72 4/7/2024 5:49 AM Nice Glob M73 4/7/2024 5:49 AM Asterism M30 4/7/2024 6:18 AM We first spied M30 around 6:14am, peaking up over the building admidst the trees. We could see its globular desk-shape which distinguished from a pinpoint star.