Starry Nights @ SFU: 2009 Messier Marathon

This evening presented a special occasion for sampling from a smorgasbord of celestial treats, since in addition to the annual hunt for Messier objects, we were treated to two flyovers by the International Space Station, together with the Space Shuttle which had recently separated from the station, and which appeared to be chased by the station across the sky!

We started early this evening, just after sunset, so as to catch the first flyover by the space station and space shuttle. These eerie celestial interlopers moved quickly and seemingly deliberately across the sky, their brilliant orange light leaving a lasting impression, long after they had disappeared from sight. Aaron Springford captured a great shot of the first flyover, which is the first image in our gallery of pictures from this evening on the right. We were treated to a second flyover about 90 minutes after their first pass!

I would like to especially thank everyone who brought our their telescopes for this evening: Ted Allen (pictured in the second image in our gallery with his monster 20" Obession), Michael Levy, Ronan and Scott Kerr, Gwen Eadie and Aaron Springford.

[For background on Charles Messier and the Messier Marathon, including useful references and links, look near the bottom of this blog.]

The best part of the evening was the many collegial and animated conversations, among the telescope owners, and between the scope owners and the roughly 30 guests who dropped by over the course of the night. I shot a few images through the physics department's 8" Meade LX200 telescope and Meade DSI-II CCD camera, two of which are included in the gallery to the right. While I did not get nearly as many or as good images during this year's Marathon as I did last year (I shot 30 Messiers at last year's SFU Marathon!), I had much more fun this year talking with fellow Marathoners and comparing views through the many scopes on hand. Although I had pledged to stay out all night, and with Kathy Porter and another guest showing no signs of fatigue, I have to admit that I asked to throw in the towel at 2AM (this being the first and so far only SFU star party at which I was not the last to call it a night!).

While I did not bag too many Messiers, our frequent guest and astronomer-extraordinaire Ronan Kerr got a very respectable haul of 29, all of which he found the old-fashioned way, by star hopping (from memory, no less!). Ronan's haul is all the more notable for the very poor observing conditions that night, with a great deal of moisture in the air on Burnaby mountain making the local light pollution much worse than usual (and with very hazy conditions at much higher altitudes to the South and East than usual). Here is Ronan's catch for the evening:

Contents of Ronan Kerr's Messier Bag
for the 2009 SFU Marathon

1 Crab Nebula
3
31 Andromeda galaxy
34
35
36
37 Salt and Pepper
38
40
41
42 Orion nebula
43 De Mariam's Nebula
44 Beehive Cluster
45 Pleiades
46
47
48
50
53
65 Leo Triplet
66 Leo Triplet
67 King Cobra Cluster
81 Bode's Galaxy
82 Cigar Galaxy
84
86
93
103
104 Sombrero Galaxy

Charles Messier and the Messier Marathon

Charles Messier was an 18th century comet hunter who compiled a list of objects that look like distant comets (i.e., fuzzy patches) in a small telescope but which, unlike comets, maintain the same position relative to the stars. Today we recognize the 110 entries in the modern Messier catalogue as "deep sky" objects, lying far beyond our solar system: star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Ironically, Messier considered these objects to be a distraction in his hunt for comets, but today this catalogue forms his lasting legacy to astronomy. The Messier objects include some of the most beautiful celestial sights, and amateur astronomers consider it to be a significant achievement to observe all of them.

In principle, all 110 Messier objects can be seen in a single night from mid-Northern latitudes, typically in mid-to-late March. At our latitude in Vancouver, we can in principle see as many as 108 of the 110 Messier objects in a single night in the optimal period, though from our SFU observing site many objects can only be seen very poorly, or not at all, due to considerable light pollution and atmospheric haze near the horizon. Nonetheless, in 2008 we easily photographed 30 Messier objects!

The optimal period for the 2009 Messier Marathon was in the last week of March, when the Moon is nearing its "new" phase (the Moon's light would otherwise block out the faint light of many Messier objects).

A number of excellent references on the Messier Marathon are available. Students for the Exploration and Discovery of Space (SEDS) has extensive on-line information on the Messier catalogue and the Messier Marathon. An comprehensive and enjoyable book on the Marathon is The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon: A Handbook and Atlas, by Don Machholz, one of the early popularizers of the Marathon, and an accomplished comet hunter. If you have an SFU library account, you can read the entire book on-line (click here to access the SFU library catalogue entry on this book, and look for the link under "Click for online access").

A list of Messier objects that can be viewed on any night from any location can be computed using an on-line program provided by the amateur "astronomy holiday" centre COAA. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) also has some useful on-line information on the Messier list, and awards a certificate to its members who observe the entire catalogue. The Vancouver chapter of the RASC has a very active program of astronomy outreach, and is well worth a visit!

Starry Nights @ SFU: Blogs & Pics

2nd Annual SFU Messier Marathon: March 25 2009!

Starry-eyed
@ SFU since Nov. 2007