Date: April 7, 2007, 7:11 pm From: David Stine Subject: Messier Marathon Observing Results This years Messier Marathon was one of the best if not the best marathon that we have ever had. There were between 30-40 people show up off and on and more competitors made it through the entire night than ever before. Many of us caravanned it to the site and guess what some fell behind and got lost. I won't say who that was, but they know. We finally got to Tuva and Bob Boston and his wife were already there and set up. The skies were really looking great and the temperature was unseasonably warm. People brought all kinds of food and beverages for the luncheon and we had more than anyone could eat. Everyone got set up and began planning their evening. Before we got into the real reason why we were there, TUVA member Gerald Miller talked about his trip to New Zealand and showed us pictures of the unbelievable southern hemisphere sky. Even Comet McNaught got lost in the blazing southern Milky Way. Gerald said the sky actually looked like the pictures with you're naked eye. You would have had to see the pictures to understand. Just amazing. John Land wanted to get a group picture of everyone and you can see his images at http://astrotulsa.com/ Click on GALLERY then TUVA Messier Marathon 2007. As it started getting darker observers were off to the starting blocks to catch the first Messier object of the night. Usually these two objects are the hardest but for many M77 and M74 turned out to be fairly easy objects. Unfortunately I was busy talking with others and didn't spend enough time to catch these two. The first M objects I found were M31, 32, 110 all around 8:40p.m. Everyone was on a fast past at this time. At 9:28p.m. we all remember about an Iridium Flare that was going to happen so we started spreading the word to take a break and look toward Polaris for this bright flare. At first no one saw anything but a very bright star below Polaris. That's unusual because there is no bright star in that area. We all began realizing that the bright star was the flare. It was the most unusual iridium flare I think I have ever seen. It just remained in the same position getting brighter and brighter. Then after it reached its peak brightness, it faded, never moving from the location. It will be one I will remember for a long time. After that we were back to the marathon logging object after object. We would take breaks and look through Rons 24 inch Bart telescope at various objects. Bart stands for "Big Astronomical Reflector Telescope" Amazing views we saw through the scope. By 11:30p.m. I had logged 46 objects missing only two objects so far. Most people at this time were taking breaks getting ready for the journey through the galaxies of Virgo. It took me approximately an hour and 42 minutes to get through this mess. But with patience and back and forth looking I finally made it. I took a break after that and watched Tony White and Steve Chapman make their journey through Virgo. I knew that both had seen the first two objects of the evening that I didn't catch so unless they were unable to come up with a few of the objects that I saw, they were going to win the most objects found for the night. Between 2:30-5:45a.m. I wandered through the Summer Objects, which were some of the best objects in the sky. I used binoculars for most of these objects. The Milky Way was a nice sight and many of these summer objects were visible with the naked eye. By 6a.m. it was going to be a race for time as it was dawn was fast approaching. It was amazing how many people were still competing and enjoying theirselves. A lot of observers had long packed it in but still in the race was Bob Boston, Denny Mishler, Tony White, Steve Chapman, Ann Bruun, John Land, Tamara Owens, and myself. I found my last object M2 a globular cluster which brought my nights total to 103. It was just too light to see M72, M73, M30, M55, M75, and I missed the first two. Was it enough to be the champion. That honor went to Tony White and Steve Chapman as they captured 105 objects only missing those last five that I did also. I found out from them and Rod Gallagher, 3 time consecutive champ, who just observed and didn't compete this year, that the first two objects of the night were easy. I guess I just wasn't looking in the right place. When said and done 4 people had logged over 100 objects, which was a record for the TUVA Messier Marathon. Three more had 90 or more. In order the winner of the TUVA Messier Marathon David Stine Award was a tie, Tony White and Steve Chapman each found 105, then next was me at 103, third was Ann Bruun with 102, Denny Mishler had 99 and did it with only large binoculars, John Land his first marathon captured 99 also, and our club president Tamara Owens located 91. Bob Boston finished out the group with 32. Thanks to Ron and Maura for being such great host and opening up their excellent site and surrounding facilities. We couldn't have asked for a better night. The biggest obstacle was trying to keep awake and driving off the road on the trip back to Tulsa the next morning. I think next time that will have to be a requirement, a two hour nap before driving home. If you missed it this year, plan on next year and we may even try another fall Messier Marathon in Oct. David Stine