My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 04.2019

Messier Marathon A FAR NORTHERN MARATHON (CONTINUED) M67 COMMENT: M52 COMMENT: M34 COMMENT: M35 COMMENT: M37 COMMENT: M36 COMMENT: M38 COMMENT: Type Mag(v) Size/Sep. RA Dec. Cnc OC 6.9 30′ 08 h 51.3 m +11° 48′ OC 6.9 13′ 23 h 24.2 m +61° 35′ 5.2 Binoculars Cas Binoculars Per COMMENT: M81 COMMENT: M82 COMMENT: 35′ 02 h 42.0 m +42° 47′ 5.1 28′ 06 h 08.9 m +24° 20′ OC 5.6 24′ 05 h 52.4 m +32° 33′ OC 6.0 12′ 05 h 36.3 m +34° 08′ OC 6.4 21′ 05 h 28.7 m +35° 50′ GC 6.2 18′ 13 h 42.2 m +28° 23′ G 6.9 21′ × 10′ 09 h 55.6 m +69° 04′ 8.4 9′ × 4′ 09 h 55.8 m +69° 41′ OC Naked eye or binoculars Gem OC Naked eye or binoculars Aur Binoculars Aur Binoculars Aur Binoculars CVn M3 Binoculars UMa Same ﬁ eld of view as M82 UMa G Same ﬁ eld of view as M81 M97 UMa PN 9.9 3′ × 3′ 11 h 14.8 m +55° 01′ M108 UMa G 10.0 8′ × 1′ 11 h 11.5 m +55° 40′ COMMENT: 49′ northwest of M97 M109 UMa G 9.8 7′ × 4′ 11 h 57.6 m +53° 23′ M40 UMa — 8.4 0.8′ 12 h 22.4 m +58° 05′ COMMENT: 30 Constellation Double star A PR I L 2 019 • SK Y & TELESCOPE p MASQUERADE Spotting the reflection nebula M78 in Orion will be easier with a transparent sky. While photos reveal a wealth of detail and color, in the eyepiece the nebula resembles a comet with two stars embedded in it. arcs. Consequently, they must be observed at much lower altitudes and in brighter twilight. So, marathoning at northern latitudes is very challenging. For example, on March 27th (the prime marathon date in southern Arizona) observers at latitude 33°N will ﬁnd M70 at an altitude of 19° at the beginning of morning astronomi- cal twilight. On the same morning at my observing site, when M70 ﬁnally reaches an altitude of 4°, it’s well into twilight, as the Sun is only 15° degrees below the horizon. Weather satel- lite images have shown that to catch the globulars of south- ern Sagittarius from my site during marathon season, the sky has to be clear all the way to northern Oregon! The most difﬁcult evening object is the face-on spiral galaxy M74 in Pisces. Not only do you have to contend with its low altitude and lingering twilight, but you’re hunting in the bright base of the zodiacal light. Expert observer Jim Failes declared M74 invisible at this latitude on March 25th. Here’s my cloud- battling experience from 11 days earlier (March 14th), variable cloudiness being typical from this latitude in the spring: “It was luxurious to have M77 high enough to be an easy catch with my 8-inch Dob. Next I went after M74 with my star atlas and failed on that ﬁrst 10-minute attempt due to the variable transparency from the cirrus cloud, Venus shin- ing on the cirrus, the bright zodiacal light, and from merely Object

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