Historical Messier Marathon Dates

Below we give a list of the best dates for Messier Marathons for recent years. For future years, please refer to our Messier Marathon Dates list, where also some explanations can be found. Our list starts with the year 1977, the year of the first reported Messier Marathon.

Year  New Moon[s]          Primary Weekend      Secondary Weekend

1977  Mar 19.6             Mar 19
1978  Mar 09.1             Mar 11
1979  Mar 28.1             Mar 24               Mar 31

1980  Mar 16.8             Mar 15
1981  Mar 06.4, Apr 04.8   Mar  7               Mar 28
1982  Mar 25.4             Mar 27               Mar 20
1983  Mar 14.7             Mar 19               Mar 12
1984  Mar 02.8, Apr 01.5   Mar 31               Mar  3

1985  Mar 21.5             Mar 23               Mar 16
1986  Mar 10.6             Mar 15               Mar  8
1987  Mar 29.5             Mar 28
1988  Mar 18.1             Mar 19
1989  Mar 07.8, Apr 06.1   Mar 11               Apr  1

1990  Mar 26.8             Mar 24               Mar 31
1991  Mar 16.3             Mar 16
1992  Mar 04.6, Apr 03.3   Mar  7               Mar 28
1993  Mar 23.3             Mar 27               Mar 20
1994  Mar 12.3             Mar 12

1995  Mar 01.5, Mar 31.2   Mar 25 (D: 6,1)      Apr  1 (D: 6,1)
1996  Mar 19.4             Mar 23 (I: 1,4,6)    Mar 16 (I: 1,4,6)
1997  Mar 09.0             Mar  8 (I: 1,2,6)
1998  Mar 28.1             Mar 28 (I: 1,4,6)
1999  Mar 17.8             Mar 20 (D: 1)        Mar 13 (I: 1,5)

2000  Mar 06.2, Apr 04.8   Apr  1               Mar 11
2001  Mar 25.0             Mar 24 (D: 2)
2002  Mar 14.1             Mar 16 (D: 7,2)
2003  Mar 03.1, Apr 01.8   Mar 29 (D: 7,1)      Mar 08 (I: 7)
2004  Mar 21.0             Mar 20 (D: 7)

2005  Mar 10.4             Mar 12 (I: 7,2)
2006  Mar 29.4             Mar 25 (D: 7)        Apr 01 (D: 7)
2007  Mar 19.1             Mar 17 (I: 7,8)
2008  Mar 07.7, Apr 06.2   Mar 08 (I: 7)        Mar 29 (I: 7)
2009  Mar 26.7             Mar 28 (I: 7,1,2)

2010  Mar 15.9             Mar 13 (I: 7,5,1,8)  Mar 20 (I: 7,1,5)
2011  Mar 04.9, Apr 03.6   Mar 05 (I: 7,8,1,5)  Apr 02 (I: 7,5,4)
2012  Mar 22.6             Mar 24 (I: 7,8,1)
2013  Mar 11.8             Mar 09 (I: 7,8,4,2)  Mar 16 (I: 7,4,2)
2014  Mar 01.0, Mar 30.8   Mar 29 (I: 7)        Mar 02 (I: 7)

2015  Mar 20.4             Mar 21 (I: 7,8,4)
2016  Mar 09.1, Apr 07.5   Mar 12 (I: 7,8)      Apr 02 (I: 7,1)
2017  Mar 28.1             Mar 25 (I: 7,8,2)    Apr 01 (I: 7,8,1)
2018  Mar 17.5             Mar 17 (I: 8, D: 7)
2019  Mar 06.7, Apr 05.4   Mar 30 (I: 8)        Mar 09 (I: 8,7)

2020  Mar 24.4             Mar 21 (I: 8)        Mar 28 (I: 8,7)
2021  Mar 13.4             Mar 13 (I: 2,8) 
2022  Mar 02.7, Apr 01.3   Apr 02 (I: 1,8, D:5) Mar 05 (I: 5,8)
2023  Mar 21.7             Mar 18 (I: 1,6,8)    Mar 25 (I: 1,6,8)
2024  Mar 10.4, Apr 08.8   Mar 09 (I:6,8; D:4)  Apr 06 (I: 1,8; D: 2,4,6,7)

Messier Marathon Home

Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: February 7, 2024