Messier Marathon Eternal Hall of Fame

Here we list all reported Messier Marathon results with full success of 110 observed Messier objects.

March 23/24, 1985: Gerry Rattley from Dugas, Arizona (10" f/5.7 N; during 1985 Saguaro Astronomy Club Messier Marathon)
March 23/24, 1985, about one hour later: Rick Hull from Anza, California (10" f/20 Cas)
March 19/20, 1988: Charlotte Amat. Ast., Union Co, North Carolina
March 19/20, 1988, hours later: David Goldwater and Martin Puskas, Palmdale, California
March 16/17, 1996: David Fredericksen from south of Arizona City, Arizona (1996 All Arizona Messier Marathon)
March 27/28, 1998: Robert Davidson from Arizona City, Arizona (see report)
March 19/20, 1999: Russell F. Pinizzotto from the Andromeda Galaxy Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas (see report and featured article)
March 22/23, 2001: Kirk Alexander and Jack Gelfand of Princeton, New Jersey from Chiricahua National Monument near Wilcox, Arizona (see report)
March 23/24, 2001: Bill Ferris, being a day early and practising for the 2001 All Arizona Messier Marathon, from the Arizona City site. See report.
March 24/25, 2001: During the most successful Messier Marathon event to date, 25 participants of the 2001 All Arizona Messier Marathon found all 110 Messier objects (instruments given in braces): Kirk Alexander (16" N), Brent Archinal (11X80 binos!), Jim & Delia Brix (16"DOB), Andrew Cooper (6" f5.1 Newt), AJ Crayon (14.5" f5.2 DOB), Marshall Dailey (5" MakCass), Bob & Pat Davidson (8" f6 DOB), Steve & Rosie Dodder (8" SCT), John Evelan (20" f4 DOB), Bill Ferris (10" f4.5; also saw all 110 the day before!), David Fredericksen (12" f6 DOB), Jack Gelfand (16" N), Joe Goss (10" SCT), Jack Jones (14.5" f5 Newt), Harold Judson ((9.25" SCT), Dean Ketelsen (11.25" Newt), Frank Kraljic (10" f5.4 DOB), Derrick (Lim (8" f4 Newt), Tom Polakis (10" DOB), Ken Reeves (20" f5 DOB), Thad Robosson (8" f6 Newt), Sam Rua (20" f5 DOB), Ken Schmidt (14.5" f4.3 DOB), Doug Smith (8" SCT), Matt Spinelli (8" SCT). Note: This was the second full success for David Fredericksen (after 1996), Bob Davidson (after 1998), and Kirk Alexander, Jack Gelfand and Bill Ferris (2 successes in 2001).
March 26/27, 2001: Don Machholz near Joshua Tree, CA (6" Newt).
March 9/10, 2003: Swapneel Kore and Girish Vaze from Mumbai, India (13"; see report)
March 29/30, 2003: During the 2003 All Arizona Messier Marathon, 14 observers achieved the goal of observing all 110 Messier objects in one night: Chuck Akers (17.5" Dob), James & Delix Brix (16" Dob), Jim & Robin Cassidy (NestStar 11), Bob & Pat Davidson (8" Dob), Hinrich Eylers (NextStar 11), David Fredericksen (NextStar 11), Jim Gutman (NextStar 11), Howard Israel (NX 11), Doug Lang (4" ED ref), Brian Page (9.25" SCT), Tom Polakis (10" DOB), Thad Robosson (15" f/5 DOB), Dawn Schur (8" f/5 DOB), David Shafer (LX 200). Note: Dawn Schur was the first lady to succeed in finding all 110 on her own. Third successes for Bob Davidson and David Fredericksen.
April 1/2, 2003: George Gilbart-Smith, assisted by John Harris, Ian Braithwaite and Bev Ewen-Smith at the COAA Algarve Observatory, Portugal.
April 1/2, 2003: Paul B. Jones at the Winston-Salem Astronomical League event near Fancy Gap, Viriginia (8" SCT).
March 19/20, 2004: Paul Clark of Manchester, England from Mt. Tiede, Canary Island with a 10" Dobsonian (see report).
March 24/25, 2004: Don Machholz found all 110 Messier objects from memory only from Red Cloud Rd. near Joshua Tree Park in southern California, using a 6-inch reflector - saw all 9 planets same night! Congratulations!
March 23/24, 2006: Don Machholz found all 110 Messier objects, once more from memory only, from Red Cloud Rd. near Joshua Tree Park in southern California, using a 6-inch (15cm) f/8 reflector (see report).
March 24/25, 2006: Paul Clark run his second successful 110 object Messier Marathon from 2000m on the slopes of Mt. Tiede, Tenerife, Canary Islands, using a 60mm Borg refractor (see report).
March 24/25, 2006: Don Machholz found all 110 Messier objects, again from memory only, from Arizona City, Arizona (the All Arizona Messier Marathon site), using his 6-inch (15cm) f/8 reflector (see report).
2006: During the NEFAS 2006 Messier Marathon, three observers successfully achieved the full score of 110 Messier Objects: Dennis O'Day, Dave Crum, Mike Rosset, Lela Rosset, and Mike Ramirez who did it from memory!
March 17/18, 2007: During the NEFAS 2007 Messier Marathon, four observers sucessfully hunted down all 110 Messier Objects: Dennis O'Day, Dave Crum, Mike Rosset, and Leila Rosset.
March 17/18, 2007: Frank Pino found all 110 Messier objects during the 2007 All Arizona Messier Marathon event, from the Arizona City site, using a Celestron CPC 1100 SCT.
March 19/20, 2007: Jon Zander hunted down all 110 Messier Objects from the Mid Hills campground in the Mojave National Preserve, CA at 35:07:52.84 N, 115:26:07.67 W, using a Meade 12.5" f/4.8 Starfinder Dobsonian telescope (see report).
March 21/22, 2009: George Gilbart-Smith successfully viewed all 110 Messier objects during a Marathon on the night of 21-22 March from a sand dune at Bir Wahid, near Siwa, Egypt (29.1N) through his 12X80 Vixen binoculars alt-az mounted on a Cobra 75 tripod. He was assisted and monitored by Julian Lush and Ian Macartney. This was the first reported full-score Messier Marathon from the continent of Africa!
March 27/28, 2009: Gordon Pegue cracked the 110 Messier Object barrier from the General Nathan Twining Observatory (GNTO) of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society south of Albuquerque, New Mexico with his 18" UltraCompact, also observing 60 more galaxies to a total of 170 objects (see report).
March 28/29, 2009: At The Astronomical Society of Las Cruces, NM, 2009 Messier Marathon, four individuals observed all 110 Messier Objects: Steve Barkes, Steve Smith, Jerry Gaber and Joseph Mancilla. Another individual (Richard Richins) imaged them all, see images.
March 28/29, 2009: During the 2009 All Arizona Messier Marathon, 5 1/2 observers achieved the goal of observing all 110 Messier objects in one night: David M. Douglass (8" f/10 SCT + 80mm Piggy Backed Refractor, also imaged all objects); Don Machholz (6" Newton, during his 43rd Messier Marathon, once more from memory only), Frank Pino (8" f/10 SCT), George J. Robinson (10" f/4.7 Dobson, all from memory only), and Rick Tejera (8" f/6 Dobson) clearly saw all 110 Messier Objects. The 1/2 success is granted to Jimmy Ray (11" SCT), who had originally claimed a full score of 110, but later decided he could not be sure he saw M74; so he is granted the 1/2 object for a total of 109 1/2, and included in this Hall for his Honesty!
March 22/23, 2012: George Robinson successfully observed all 110 Messier Objects from the Site of the Arizona Messier Marathon, as reported by A.J. Crayon. This was done from memory, and was probably the first Full 110 Score at that site.
March 23/24, 2012: Jonathan Reed and Cole Cote hunted down all 110 Messier Objects from the top of Johnson Mesa, just outside of Folsom, NM, using a 10" Dobson and an 8" Dobson. This Messier Marathon was hold to the memory and honor of their professor, Dr. Robert H. Day. Read Jonathan Reed's report!
March 23/24, 2012: The night preceding the 2012 All Arizona Messier Marathon, Don Machholz and George Robinson had a bonus session from the site for that event, the Hovatter Airstrip, and both successfully observed all 110 Messier Objects, both from memory only. This was the first two full scores from the new Arizona Marathon site, and Don's 6th full scope in his 46th Messier Marathon. Read Don's report!
March 29/30, 2014: Gordon Pegue of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS) successfully hunted down all 110 Messier Objects with his 20" f/5 Tectron reflector, his second full-score in 23 years. Read Gordon's report!
March 21/22, 2015: During the very successful 2015 All Arizona Messier Marathon, 12 observers achived the goal to find and observe all 110 Messier Objects in one night: Rick Tejera (60mm f/5.8 refractor; his second success!), Stephen Perry (90mm Maksutov), Ray Heinle (7" Maksutov), Joan McGue (8" f/6 Dob), Mitch Prause (8" SCT), Ben Nagorsen (10" f/5.5 Dob), Claude Haynes (10" f/10 SCT), Steve Smith (10" f/10 SCT), Paul Bennett (10" Maksutov), Michael Poppre (10" Dob), Lori Prause (11" SCT), and Lynn Blackburn (16" Dob); all first time unless otherwise mentioned. Congratulations to all! Read Rick Tejera's Report!
March 25/26, 2017: C. E. Steuart Dewar finally had his perfect run from Big Bend, Texas with a pair of 37x100 Miyauchi Saturn III binoculars and Garrett 11x56. See his report, also reported on his website at http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/cesd-astronomy.htm - also his log.sheet at http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/2017-03-25_MessierMarathonLogSheet.pdf! Congratulations!
March 25/26, 2017: During the successful 2017 All Arizona Messier Marathon, 10 observers successfully achieved the 110 Messier Object score, six of them first-time: Sanket Unhalei, Nilesh Korde, Michael Poppre, Tom and Jennifer Polakis, Tyler T Dawson, Shyanne Dustru, Curtis Danko, Paul Lind and Jack Jones. Congratulations to all!
March 17/18, 2018: Martijn Straub eventually achieved the full score in his successful Messier Marathon from Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma (height 2300mtrs), using his 10-inch Dobson. Congratulations! See his report!
March 19/20, 2018: Jim K successfully observed all 110 Messier Objects for his first time using a 80mm, f/7 refractor with single 17mm Plössl eyepiece from the General Nathan Twining Observatory (GNTO) of the The Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS). Fellow observer Martin Hilario saw 109 (missing M30), but imaged all 110 Messier Objects during the same night with a Generation-3 Night Vision scope. Congratulations! Read Jim's Report!
March 06/07, 2019: Ashirwad Tillu and Anurag Shevade accomplished all 110 Messier Objects in their marathon from Ashirwad's house at Pandhurli in Maharashtra, India, using an 18-inch f/4.5 Dobsonian. Congratulations! Read Ashirwad's report!
March 26/27, 2019: Jonathan Ward succeeded in photographing all 110 Messier objects from Summerfield, North Carolina, USA, using an Explore Scientific 127mm APO and a ZWO ASI294MC camera. Awesome! Congratulations! Read Jonathan's report and see his superb photographic results!
March 30/31, 2019: During the successful 2019 All Arizona Messier Marathon, two observers accomplished the full score of 110 Messier Objects observed in one night: Tom Biermann with an 11" SCT (his first full success) and Jack Jones with a 20" f/5 Dobson (his third). Congratulations! Read Rick Tejera's report!
March 20-21, 2021: CloudyNights Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) Team organized an electronic team Messier Marathon on March 20-21, 2021 (5pm through 8am ET). 8 team members managed a COVID-safe online marathon through all 110 Messier objects: Roel Boudry, Robert Chandler, Jeffrey Horn, Sanjeev Joshi, Doug Lucas, Frank Rossetti, Gary Shaw, and Phil Wolski. They also managed to image each object using electronically-assisted astronomy. See their report and their tracking sheet.
April 1-2, 2022: Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) Global Team (formerly CloudyNights EAA Team) conducted another electronic team Messier Marathon (their second this year), another COVID-safe online event in the middle of the pandemic (their second attempt this year). 25 observers around the world attended; they observed all 110 Messier Objects and collected multiple images of each, working as a team through the night. Attendees: Jonathan Betts, Tom Calvin, Michael Camilleri, Bob Chandler, Michael Dobres, Rick Fanning, Stefan Gapko, Brian Halkett, Randy Hodges, Curtis Horn, Jeff Horn, Kai Houlihan, Paul Huntley, Mike Jerry, Doug Lucas, Bryan McClanahan, Carl Olson, Michael Owen, John Rogers, Frank Rossetti, Avery Ry, Kym Thalassoudis, Brian Threlkeld, Elizabeth Vo, Phil Wolski. See Doug Lucas' report! Congratulations for this big success!
March 18/19, 2023: Jan Hattenbach and Ronald Stoyan completed the full 110 from La Palma, using a 10-inch Dobson. See Jan's report!
March 18/19, 2023: Dave Whittle completed the full 110 from two locations in Tenerife, changed after 48 objects. Congratulations! Find his report in the Liverpool Astronomical Society eNewsletter - May 2023 issue!
March 18/19, 2023: Victor Trnka of the Czech Astronomical Society had a series of 3 Messier Marathons between March 17 and March 20 from Madeira. During the second night, he found all 110 objects with 10" f/4 Dob, from memory - and did it again next night!
March 19/20, 2023: Victor Trnka had another session from Madeira with 10" f/4 Dob, again from memory - he had done it the night before as well! Congratulations! Read his short report and his longer Report in Czech!
March 23/24, 2023: Richard Wheeler of the Ancient City Astronomy Club in St. Augustine, FL and the the Northeast Florida Astronomical Society (NEFAS) tried and completed the 110 Messiers from Elkton, FL. Congratulations! Read his report!
March 25/26, 2023: Dominic Michela completed the full success of 110 Messier Objects at the All Arizona Messier Marathon 2023 from North Hovatter Observing Field, AZ. Congratulations! See results account on facebook! [Local copy of Result account]

Honorable mention: Observers who logged all 109 objects they looked for, excluding controverse M 102 (the others accept or take NGC 5866 as M102, in agreement with a proposition of Don Machholz and others, and still somewhat disputable historical evidence):

March 20/21, 1993: Amateurs led by Paul Money from COAA, Algarve, Portugal
March 29/30, 1998: Mark Dunnett, Paul Money and Stephen Tonkin from COAA, Algarve, Portugal
March 17/18, 2007: Joe Cambala from Fakahatchee Strand State Park, Florida, using a 15" f/5 Dobsonian

Hall of Fame for the Messier Plus Marathon:

September 25/26, 2022: Vitaliy Smolianchuk and Vyacheslav Bogdanets of the Astronomy club "Astropolis", Kiev, Ukraine, succeeded in running the full success for the Messier Plus Marathon, in the very difficult war times. Vitaliy used a 200/1000 Newtonian dobson, Vyacheslav Bogdanets a 100 ED on the eq/mount, to locate all 110 MM+ objects in one night, from memory only without using any maps. Cordial congratulations! See their report as well as Vitaliy's and Vyacheslav's results!

Please notify me of any further full-score marathon sessions! Also report any omissions and errors ..

Messier Marathon Observer's Results

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Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: January 12, 2025