Date: Mon, Mar 7, 2016
From: Education Astrotourism (Vikrant Narang)

Preliminary Report SPACE Messier Marathon 2016

Goal: Half Messier Marathon (55 M Objects)
Date: Night of 5-6 March
Venue: Astroport Sariska, Rajasthan, India ( 27° 14.608'N,  76° 26.003'E) 
(~220 KM from New Delhi)

The educators began observing at 23:00 Hrs IST. The sky kept being clouded 
out and it even rained so the team had to pack their stuff in a hurry and 
then again place it back to continue the observation. This was technically 
the first messier marathon attempt by all the educators. The rigour and 
planning involved in such a Messier Marathon are relatively new to the 
most. With the guidance and support from the seniors at SPACE, the 
astronomy educators learnt to star hop and were thrilled to point the 
galaxies. None of the team members was able to reach close the perfect 
score aimed for, averaging only approximately 25 objects. Nevertheless, 
it was one of the best experience for everyone. A report is being prepared 
and will be shared within a day or two.

Champions of SPACE who attempted the Marathon (in alphabetical order):
Aarushi Sharma
Abhinav Prakash Dubey (Team Leader)
Aditi Tomar
Amanjot Arora
Ankur Sharma
Asha Talwar
Chitra Khatri
Garima Malik
Manalee Deka
Payal Saluja
Riddhi Mahandru
Sakshe Sharma
Tanya Chaudhry
Tarun

Thanking You

Vikrant Narang
Education Team