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COURTESY OF Babak Tafreshi , The World at Night ( twanight . org )
With the Milky Way as a backdrop , this group of about 150 astronomy enthusiasts undertakes the Messier Marathon challenge in April 2011 from the desert area of Seh Qaleh in eastern Iran .
Catch ’ em all
F or amateur astronomers , late March presents the perfect opportunity to embark on one of the greatest observational challenges in the Northern Hemisphere — the Messier Marathon . Although it is billed as an observing challenge , a Messier Marathon is actually more than that . It is an epic quest in which participants attempt to see in one night all of the 110 objects in the Messier Catalog . “ The successful Messier Marathon is when you find and identify the most Messier objects that you can . For some astronomers that can be 110 objects , for others it might be 30 or 50 or 100 . Everyone tries for their personal best ,” said Don Machholz , one of a handful of amateur astronomers who created the daunting challenge in the late 1970s . Since 1979 , Machholz has undertaken 53 marathons . During 34 of those , he has found between 100 and 109 objects . Six times he has seen all 110 objects in one night . In April 2003 , he tackled an enhanced version of the marathon and became the first to find 108 Messier objects in one night using no star charts or other aids and navigating only by his memory . It is not only these achievements that have made Machholz a legend in the decades-long history of this challenge . He also wrote the observing order that is considered to be the gold standard when it comes to the Messier Marathon .
Late March is the perfect time for a Messier Marathon
What is the Messier Catalog ?
This essential catalog that French astronomer Charles Messier began in the mid-1700s as a list of objects that frustrated his comet hunting efforts has become one of the most useful tools in amateur astronomy . The clusters , nebulae and galaxies that Messier saw as cluttering his explorations are now primary targets for others . For Northern Hemisphere observers , the Messier Catalog is a perfect tour guide for deep sky because it details the locations of 110 objects that can be easily observed with modest-sized telescopes or , in some cases , even binoculars .
Sky ’ s Up