We might get lucky and have good conditions for a Messier Marathon next weekend. If you haven't heard of the marathon before it's the only time of year when starting right at dusk and observing till dawn you have the opportunity to view almost the entire Messier catalog. I haven't heard of anyone attempting this lately because of unfavorable conditions but if the sky's right I know you can knock 85~90 off the list and still have time to drink lots off coffee.
MESSIER MARATHON
In 1758, 28-year old French astronomer Charles Messier observed and tracked a marvelous sight. Halley’s Comet had returned as predicted, which proved that these fuzzy-tailed visitors orbited the sun like the planets. Suddenly comet hunting was a major part of astronomy, and the discovery of a new comet could make you a minor celebrity in Europe.
Mr. Messier observed the skies with extreme vigilance, hoping to discover new comets. Later nicknamed the “Ferret of Comets”, he discovered13 comets on his own and helped to discover six others.Yet Mr. Messier is known today more for his list of deep space objects than for discovering comets.
In his search for these extremely faint objects, Mr. Messier came across areas of the sky that looked like comets but didn’t move with respect to the stars. Mr. Messier called these comet masqueraders, “embarrassing objects”.
So Mr. Messier, not wanting to be embarrassed anymore, compiled a list of comet like objects to include on star charts, much like a sea captain might mark reefs on an ocean map. Eventually, he included 103 objects in his catalog. Seven more were added after his death.
These 110 Messier Objects represent some of the most fascinating phenomena in and out of our galaxy.
The list includes:
* 55 star clusters
* 36 galaxies
* 11 nebula
* a double star
* a supernova remnant
Some Messier ( or M ) objects can be seen with the naked eye. The cluster of stars called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, are designated as M45. The Orion nebula, which can be found below Orion’s belt is M42 and M43. About 80 M objects can be found with a good pair of binoculars.
