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Video Messier Marathon
March 28th
7:00 PM MDT (01:00 UT)

Weather Permitting

The Herrett Center and the Magic Valley Astronomical Society present the fourth annual Video Messier Marathon.

Join us on USTREAM.TV!
Download and view our video invitation: high speed connection or modem connection.
After the brightest comet of 1682 Edmond Halley realized it had visited us before, and predicted that it would visit again in 1758. He missed seeing it again by sixteen years, but his discovery got many people interested in comet hunting in the hopes that they would be remembered each time their comet came around again. One of them, a Frenchman by the name of Charles Messier spent much of his life compiling a list of comet like objects not to be mistaken for comets. At first the list was only objects he spotted himself, but later it included objects found by others.

By the end of his life he succeeded in the original discovery of thirteen comets, and a list of 110 comet-like objects. We don't remember any of the comets, but his list has become the favorite targets list of amateur astronomers. Back in the 1970's people realized that in March it is possible to view all 110 objects in a single night. The Messier Marathon was born. 		Our event starts at 7:00 PM MDT with a presentation on Charles Messier and his catalog. As soon as it gets dark enough we will start hunting objects. We won't have time to let people look through the eyepiece, so 'viewing' will be in the Rick Allen room. Coats will be optional, but recommended. You are welcome to visit the observatory during the night, but with the cameras attached you won't be able to look through the telescope directly. There will be telescopes available on the Stargazer's Deck for viewing the brighter objects.

Our 24" DFM telescope is outfitted with two Stellacam II low light cameras, and carries a 5" Meade refractor and a 7" Takahashi astrograph. At least one of them will give us good views of each object. For the first time we will attempt to stream the event on the Internet. The ustream.tv link to our show appears above. We will turn on the program about fifteen minutes before the start of the talk.


Post Event Report.

We were almost totally skunked this year. Friday night's attempt to stream the event produced beautiful video, but no audio. We still have no solution on getting the audio to work. The night went from cloudy to snowing just as we left.

We've often said that the telescope can't see through clouds but that was disproved on Saturday night. We were able to see at least one star in M45 through the clouds. We also viewed Saturn, Mars and a couple of stars. Most were not visible by eye when we were viewing.

2008 Score Card -- 1 of 110
Green = Target Hit      Red = Target Not Hit
M1
SN Rem
Taurus
Crab Nebula 		M2
Globular
Aquarius
 		M3
Globular
Canes Venatici
 		M4
Globular
Scorpius
 		M5
Globular
Serpens Caput
 		M6
Open
Scorpius
Butterfly 		M7
Open
Scorpius
Ptolemy's 		M8
Nursery
Sagittarius
Lagoon 		M9
Globular
Ophiuchus
 		M10
Globular
Ophiuchus
M11
Open
Scutum
Wild Duck 		M12
Globular
Ophiuchus
 		M13
Globular
Hercules
Great 		M14
Globular
Ophiuchus
 		M15
Globular
Pegasus
 		M16
Nursery
Serpens Cauda
Eagle 		M17
Nursery
Sagittarius
Omega 		M18
Open
Sagittarius
 		M19
Globular
Ophiuchus
 		M20
Nursery
Sagittarius
Trifid
M21
Open
Sagittarius
 		M22
Globular
Sagittarius
 		M23
Open
Sagittarius
 		M24
Open
Sagittarius
 		M25
Open
Sagittarius
 		M26
Open
Scutum
 		M27
Planetary
Vulpecula
Dumbbell 		M28
Globular
Sagittarius
 		M29
Open
Cygnus
 		M30
Globular
Capricornus
M31
Spiral
Andromeda
 		M32
Elliptical
Andromeda
M31 companion 		M33
Spiral
Triangulum
Pinwheel 		M34
Open
Perseus
 		M35
Open
Gemini
 		M36
Open
Auriga
 		M37
Open
Auriga
 		M38
Open
Auriga
 		M39
Open
Cygnus
 		M40
Double
Ursa Major
M41
Open
Canis Major
 		M42
Nursery
Orion
Great 		M43
Nursery
Orion
P/O M42 		M44
Open
Cancer
Beehive 		M45
Open
Taurus
Pleiades 		M46
Open
Puppis
 		M47
Open
Puppis
 		M48
Open
Hydra
 		M49
Elliptical
Virgo
 		M50
Open
Monoceros
M51
Spiral
Canes Venatici
Whirlpool 		M52
Open
Cassiopeia
 		M53
Globular
Coma Berenices
 		M54
Globular
Sagittarius
 		M55
Globular
Sagittarius
 		M56
Globular
Lyra
 		M57
Planetary
Lyra
Ring 		M58
Spiral
Virgo
 		M59
Elliptical
Virgo
 		M60
Elliptical
Virgo
M61
Spiral
Virgo
 		M62
Globular
Ophiuchus
 		M63
Spiral
Canes Venatici
Sunflower 		M64
Spiral
Coma Berenices
Blackeye 		M65
Spiral
Leo
 		M66
Spiral
Leo
 		M67
Open
Cancer
 		M68
Globular
Hydra 		M69
Globular
Sagittarius
 		M70
Globular
Sagittarius
M71
Globular
Sagitta
 		M72
Globular
Aquarius
 		M73
Open
Aquarius
 		M74
Spiral
Pisces
 		M75
Globular
Sagittarius
 		M76
Planetary
Perseus
Little Dumbbell 		M77
Spiral
Cetus
 		M78
Nursery
Orion
 		M79
Globular
Lepus
 		M80
Globular
Scorpius
M81
Spiral
Ursa Major
Bode's 		M82
Irregular
Ursa Major
Cigar 		M83
Spiral
Hydra
Pinwheel 		M84
Lenticular
Virgo
 		M85
Lenticular
Coma Berenices
 		M86
Lenticular
Virgo
 		M87
Elliptical
Virgo
 		M88
Spiral
Coma Berenices
 		M89
Elliptical
Virgo
 		M90
Spiral
Virgo
M91
Spiral
Coma Berenices
 		M92
Globular
Hercules
 		M93
Open
Puppis
 		M94
Spiral
Leo
 		M95
Spiral
Leo
 		M96
Spiral
Leo
 		M97
Planetary
Ursa Major
Owl 		M98
Spiral
Coma Berenices
 		M99
Spiral
Coma Berenices
 		M100
Spiral
Coma Berenices
M101
Spiral
Ursa Major
Pinwheel 		M102
Lenticular
Draco
 		M103
Open
Cassiopeia
 		M104
Spiral
Virgo
Sombrero 		M105
Elliptical
Leo
 		M106
Spiral
Canes Venatici
 		M107
Globular
Ophiuchus
 		M108
Spiral
Ursa Major
 		M109
Spiral
Ursa Major
 		M110
Elliptical
Andromeda
M31 companion