Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 07:42:31 -0800 (PST) From: Ken Mallard Subject: 2002 Messier Marathon Results: 20x80 Binocs and Atlas Hi: Armed with ONLY my 20x80 binocs, my trusty Star Atlas and my sidekick Babs (my Bassett Hound)..I took the Marathon challenge the night of March 7th. I haven't attempted most of the Messier objects with my binocs..so it proved to be an interesting evening. I live in a moderately light polluted area in North Carolina..so I knew some objects were lost from the start..also I have a forest behind my house..some trees blocking the Southern Sky.... The sky was fairly clear..although a few high clouds drifted over periodically. Well..to start off..my neighbors all decided to turn on their outdoor lights. I'm not sure why...perhaps they were nervous that some odd looking fellow was dashing about his front and backyard with a pair of binoculars. Anyway..that mainly affected the first set of objects on the list. M74, M77, M76, M32, M110 were all light causualties. Moving to my darker backyard I had good viewing until..gulp..the Virgo Cluster. Now that was a hoot. Using 20x80 I figured I'd miss some..I got more than I expected. I stared a long time exactly where some of those little fuzz balls SHOULD of been..alas..to see nothing. However..overall I got all except M98, M99, M91, and M58. Some I thought I wouldn't see I did..and vice versa. That was the toughest part of the Marathon. I rested from 1am till 2:30am and then was back outside. Missed M57..can never tell which "star" is it.. My "southern" trees got in my way quite a bit..I was dodging around my backyard trying to find "holes". I was able to get alot of the higher objects..but the ones close the horizon were toast. I ended up with 81 objects seen. I'll be in a veeery dark location in mid April and my try again with my 20x80 binocs...just to see the difference. Cheers! Ken Mallard