My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 04.2019

MESSIER MARATHON Run Follow these tips to get the most out of a Messier Marathon run from higher latitudes. A new Moon falls on the night of April 4–5, 2019. This is a perfect date to attempt a Messier Marathon from latitude 49° north (or higher), even though it’s con- sidered too late in the year to get the best marathon results from more southerly locations. Much has been written about Messier Marathons under- taken from the latitude of southern Arizona, for which expert observer Tom Polakis gives the observing window for catch- ing all 110 Messiers as March 20–April 2. As he notes, the northern limit for a full marathon is 40°N, with the optimal latitude around 20°N. But many S&T readers live at even higher latitudes, including those of us in the northern tier of the United States, southern Canada, and Europe. Can you complete the marathon from these locations? On his ﬁfth marathon, well-known supernova hunter Paul Gray scored 109 objects on the night of March 27–28, 2006, from latitude 46.1°N in New Brunswick with his 12.5-inch Dobsonian and 10×70 binoculars. He missed only M30. This is a record for Canada, even though southernmost Ontario is at latitude 42°N. Farther north, the maximum number of Messiers that can be seen in one night decreases steadily. I’ve done ten Messier Marathons from a superb site (I drove hundreds of kilometers looking for the best possible treeless western through southeastern horizons) at latitude 49°N on the British Columbia–Washington State border. Now I drive up out of the apricot orchards in bloom to the land of snow at 4,000 feet on a plateau called Anarchist Mountain, east of the Okanagan Valley. The best score possible from my location is 106 or possibly 107 Messiers in one night, but there are critically important changes in the best observing order for the evening and morning twilight objects from that used in the American Southwest. At this latitude the globulars in far-southern Sagittarius rise much later than they do in Arizona or even in eastern Canada, and, worse yet, they rise on very shallow t A BRILLIANT END If you’re observing from more northerly latitudes, the globular cluster M69 in Sagittarius could be the final object of your marathon. You’ll be fighting the morning twilight, so look quickly to beat the coming Sun! by Alan Whitman A FAR NORTHERN MARATHON Most Messier Marathon observing lists reﬂect conditions in southern latitudes. The following tables incorporate the experiences of members of the Okanagan Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at latitude 49° north. It also groups binocular objects together. Object Constellation Type Mag(v) Size/Sep. RA Dec. Cet G 8.9 7′ × 6′ 02 h 42.7 m –00° 01′ Psc G 9.4 10′ × 10′ 01 h 36.7 m COMMENT: Toughest evening object. Invisible by March 25th. +15° 47′ 05 h 24.2 m –24° 31′ M77 COMMENT: Invisible by March 30th M74 M79 COMMENT: M31 COMMENT: M32 COMMENT: M110 COMMENT: M33 COMMENT: M45 COMMENT: M41 COMMENT: M93 COMMENT: M47 COMMENT: M46 Lep GC 7.7 10′ Last seen April 2nd, may be visible a few nights longer And G 3.4 178′ × 63′ 00 h 42.7 m +41° 16′ 8′ × 6′ 00 h 42.7 m +40° 52′ 17′ × 10′ 00 h 40.4 m +41° 41′ 01 h 33.9 m +30° 39′ Same ﬁ eld of view as M32, M110 And G 8.1 Same ﬁ eld of view as M31, M110 And G 8.5 Seen through thin cirrus on April 8th. Tri G 5.7 73′ × 45′ Binoculars reveal when scopes fail. Requires transparent sky. Tau OC 1.6 110′ 03 h 47.0 m +24° 07′ OC 4.5 38′ 06 h 46.0 m –20° 44′ OC 6.2 22′ 07 h 44.6 m –23° 52′ OC 4.4 30′ 07 h 36.6 m –14° 30′ OC 6.1 27′ 07 h 41.8 m –14° 49′ OC 5.9 16′ 07 h 02.8 m –08° 20′ Naked eye CMa Naked eye or binoculars Pup Binoculars Pup Naked eye or binoculars Pup COMMENT: Binoculars M50 COMMENT: Mon Binoculars M42 Ori EN 4.0 85′ × 60′ 05 h 35.4 m –05° 27′ M43 Ori EN 9.0 20′ × 15′ 05 h 35.6 m –05° 16′ M78 Ori RN 8.0 8′ × 6′ 05 h 46.7 m +00° 06′ COMMENT: Requires clear sky M1 Tau SNR 8.4 6′ × 4′ 05 h 34.5 m +22° 01′ M76 Per PN 10.1 3′ × 2′ 01 h 42.4 m +51° 34′ M103 Cas OC 7.4 6′ 01 h 33.2 m +60° 42′ M48 Hya OC 5.8 54′ 08 h 13.8 m –05° 48′ 3.1 95′ 08 h 40.1 m +19° 59′ COMMENT: M44 COMMENT: Naked eye or binoculars Cnc OC Naked eye sk yandtele scope.com • A PR I L 2 019 29

My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 04.2019 | Seite 31