Messier Marathon 2004

On this occasion, it will be possible to combine an all-planet marathon with the Messier event, although Neptune will be difficult, and Uranus not much easier. This is one of the last years for a long time that we can get all 110 Messier Objects AND all 9 planets in one night. Uranus will disappear in coming years for about 15 years, then Neptune will be behind the sun during Messier Marathon time until about 2045. By then Pluto will be in the twilight until about 2105, when it will be visible near M77.

Some comets brighter than about mag 14.0 may be visible; we list them below, based on the JPL List of Currently Visible Comets (also note IAU's Observable Comets page, Gary Kronk's list of current comets and the Fachgruppe Kometen list):

Comet		   	      RA  (2000.0)  Dec  mag
			  	  March 21, 2004

29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1    23:30.42 +02:28.9 15.7  (has outbursts)
C/2003 T3 (Tabur)             23:42.34 +05:44.2  9.0
C/2002 T7 (LINEAR)            00:00.61 +10:17.0  5.1
C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)              00:18.82 -65:30.6  5.5
C/2001 HT50 (LINEAR-NEAT)     00:44.47 +11:00.9 13.7

The list is RA ordered and thus in the sequence the comets might be observed from evening through midnight to morning. Note that occasionally comets become bright shortly (like Hyakutake in 1996, Ikeya-Zhang and Utsunomiya in 2002), so check back for possible updates shortly before Marathon date.

Also, meteors from various showers may occur, and depending on your location, you may be able to observe the International Space Station, ISS.

• The Winston-Salem Astronomical League has scheduled its Second Annual Messier Marathon for the weekend of 19-21 March 2004 at the Wake Forest University Lodge, a private facility on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Fancy Gap, Virginia at 3,000 feet elevation. For more information, visit http://www.wsal.org/ or contact Robert Bruce Thompson (thompson at wsal dot org). - R.B. Thompson
• The Sirius Lookers, Sedona Astronomy Club are planning a Messier Marathon again this year at our Two Trees public site. It's between Sedona and Cottonwood Arizona just off Highway 89A in Coconino National Forest. See their website for maps and directions to Two Trees. - Tom Walczak
• The 2004 All Arizona Messier Marathon, sponsored for the 12th time by the Saguaro Astronomy Club, will be held on March 20/21, 2004 at the site south of Arizona City. Also see their announce! - A.J. Crayon
• The San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) Messier Marathon 2004 will be at Henry Coe State Park. It will be held in the night of March 20/21. Henry Coe is about 45 minutes south of San Jose, CA. See this webpage for details. - Bob Havner
• Jyotirvidya Parisanstha, Pune (India's Oldest Amature Astronomers' Association; also known as JVP by the amateur astronomers in India) has scheduled its Annual Messier Marathon for the weekend of 20/21 March 2004 at the Tamhini, 65 km from Pune city. For more information contact Sagar Gokhale (gosagar at yahoo.com)
• The Astronomical Society of Las Cruces (New Mexico) will be conducting a Messier Marathon on March 20-21 at its 'Upham' dark sky site (approximately 30 miles north of Las Cruces). - Rich Richins
• The Bear Valley Astronomical Society is pleased to offer a Messier Marathon 2004. This will be held tentatively at Camp Oakes near Big Bear, Calif. An orientation presentation will be held at the March meeting. Our meetings are always held on the second Tuesday of the month. Call toll free: 1 866 482 7827 or locally 909 878 4496 ask for Doreen, e-mail: info at stargazersinn.com
• The TUVA Astronomy Club announces that the 2004 Messier Marathon will take place on March 20 at the club site in Council Hill, Oklahoma, owned by Ron and Maura Woods. More info can be found on their website. - David Stine
• The Oklahoma City Astronomy Club will be venturing out to the Selman Living Laboratory in northwest Oklahoma on the afternoon of March 20th. The remote location promises a truly dark sky and a nice flat horizon line. Male and female bunkhouses/warm up facilities will be available. The club plans to work until Sun rise and sleep in the bunkhouses until noon before we head home. This promises to be a truly memorable night!
  They will also be having their regular club meeting on Friday March 12th at the Omni-Plex at 7PM where the main presentation will be 'Best Practices for doing a Messier Marathon'. - Jeff Tibb <JeffTibb at yahoo.com>
• The San Francisco Amateur Astronomers are planning a Messier Marathon the night of March 20/21 at Lake Sonoma Recreation Area, about 90 minutes north of San Francisco. See this webpage for details. - Michael Portuesi
• Sorin Hotea and Mihai Sarb will try a Messier Marathon from a site in northern Romania with their two 150-mm self-made Dobson telescopes, on March 20-21. Interested parties are invited to join. More info on this webpage or by email. - Sorin Hotea (djsoso at go.ro, or sorin at astroclubul.org)

• The Ozarks Amateur Astronomers Club is going to be hosting a Messier Marathon event near Springfield Missouri on March 20th. The club is composed mainly of students at Southwest Missouri State University with a few members from the community. The event will take place at the school's Baker Observatory. To help us in the marathon we will be using roughly 8 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes along with an 8" Dobsonian, 10" Dobsonian, 14" Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a 16" Cassegrain reflecting telescope (with CCD attached camera) on loan to SMSU from Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. - Jon Voisey (Secretary/Tresurer for the OAAC)
• The Astronomy Club, Ahmedabad will be carrying out the annual Messier Marathon as usual this year. It is scheduled for the nights of 20th and 21st March on the Ahmedabad Gandhinagar Highway near the Science City, Ahmedabad. - Manoj Pai (Astronomy Club, T-15 Sunrise Park Tenements, PO Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380 054, INDIA)
• The Lipan Astronomy and Space Society (LASS) will be hosting a Messier Marathon at the clubs observing site at 1180 Addison Rd. Lipan, Tx on Mar 19th. This is the first ever Messier Marathon for this newly formed astro club. Events begin at 6 PM and last until the most hardy decides to go home. Certificates will be awarded for various levels of participation and achievement.
• The Oceanside Photo and Telescope Astronomy Society will be holding a Messier Marathon at Little Blair Valley, in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (in San Diego County, California) on March 20-21. - T. Wesley Erickson
• For the first time, members of the Hilo Astronomy Club (Hawaii) will attempt the Messier Marathon from the 9,400 ft level of Mauna Kea. The picnic area above the Hale Pohaku mid-level facility will be used because of its excellent western and eastern horizons. The Hilo Astronomy Club and the University of Hawaii at Hilo Astronomy Club will combine efforts the weekend of March 19-21. - Dave Brennen, President
• Don Machholz, Colfax, CA will be doing the Messier Marathon, weather permitting, from southern California, driving down on Wednesday, March 24 and coming back two days later. I plan to set up off of Red Cloud Mine Rd, off the south side of Hwy 10, 1.2 miles from the Hwy. Others are welcome to join him.

If you have undertaken, or participated in, a Messier Marathon, 2004 or earlier, if not already done so, please contact me your or your group's results, or the link to your results page, for inclusion in our Messier Marathon Results page!

Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
[contact]

Last Modification: December 19, 2004